Desperation, Says the Villain
by kerricarri
Summary: When the Hive Five suddenly turns into an aggressive, no-mercy policy group, Jinx is nowhere to be found. But it’s soon discovered that she has succumbed to a deadly disease and the Hive will go through any means to save her. Season5 AU.
1. dstv I

What started out as an effort to write Kid Flash x Jinx decently turned, instead, into a Hive Five-centric fic that can easily be considered an extension of Kid Flash's debut Episode 60. This fic looks beyond romance and concentrates, instead, on the question of exactly what kinds of lengths a villainous group from a children's cartoon show will go to in order to save their own, the kinds of struggles they go through and how they spiral further down into becoming darker and darker.

However, everything I've just said is completely debatable. I am undertaking this project in order to test myself if I can write within the bounds of canon and correct characterization but hold true to the idea of how the kiddish Hive Five transformed into a ruthless, no-mercy policy group. This fic will never become M-rated because extreme blood, gore, angst, and crap is not the tone the show has. Consequently, the story will have its humorous moments and its dark moments, just like any other Teen Titan episode.

This fic takes place after Episode 60 and the series finale, the final confrontation with the Brotherhood of Evil, never happens here. Instead, they mysteriously go into hiding for some nefarious purpose or another and the Teen Titans, discouraged, come back home for brief reprieve. I don't know if I will deal with the Brotherhood of Evil; it's doubtful.

Instead, I will have the Titans take up their regular duties in Jump city and the entire fic will take place in a matter of **days**. The conflict will be solved in time for our heroes to go back to pursuing the Brotherhood of Evil and so neatly deals with the issue of the fic's timing in order for it to be considered as canonical as possible. Unfortunately, I still haven't sketched out the ending yet so I'm still working on it...

* * *

"Ha!_ Suckers_!" 

The bomb detonated and the Teen Titans were blown clear across the rooftop, much to Gizmo's delight. He let out a whoop and sped away using his jetpack to where Kyd Wykkyd stood, waiting. But Raven quickly recovered, and moved to intercept him.

As Gizmo neared, however, Kyd Wykkyd gave an affirmative nod and opened a transportational doorway for the kid genius to fly through.

Waving bye-bye to the disgruntled Titans, Gizmo disappeared through, along with Kyd Wykkyd. Raven flew to a stop to, just where moments before, two of the Hive Five villains were there.

"Titans! Split up! Don't let them get away!" Robin yelled after jumping to his feet. But his eyes widened in surprise when he was knocked forward, being punched hard from behind.

However, Robin didn't fall to the ground in a hapless heap, as Mammoth had probably hoped. Instead, jumping forward, Robin took advantage of the push and used his hands to propel him forward into a handspring.

But just as he spun around, bo-stick in hand, he saw See-More running towards the edge of the roof, beckoning Mammoth to follow him. With a cry, Robin ran forward, already seeing the possibility of their escape, but See-More saw him in the distance, and grimaced.

"GO, Mammoth! Meet you back at HQ, man!" But Mammoth had already jumped off the building and freefell right into where Kyd Wykkyd's black portal met him. Kyd Wykkyd gave See-More thumbs up, before disappearing himself.

But unbeknownst to the Titans, Kyd Wykkyd allowed just enough time for Gizmo to fly out of the portal, replacing Mammoth as he joined the fray.

See-More turned back to Robin, satisfied that the last of his teammates had gone. But barely had he turned around before Robin attacked him. See-More quickly stopped Robin's assault by grabbing hold of his bo-stick with both hands, struggling to push it away from his neck.

However, it quickly became apparent that See-More was at a severe disadvantage. This just wasn't his strong point, and Robin would soon overpower him at this rate.

Suddenly, See-More's eyes widened as he saw Gizmo hovering some ways behind Robin. When he saw what Gizmo was getting ready to do, See-More switched off his vision into a different mode, disturbing and random in that an inverted eye peered out at Robin. But then See-More let out a muffled yell when Robin suddenly tripped him.

But barely he fell onto the ground before See-More let out one more yell:

"Gizmo—NOW!"

Confused, Robin reared back from a particularly smug See-More, when Gizmo appeared with a giggle. Before anyone could stop him, Gizmo had suddenly chucked a handful of tiny spheres onto the ground.

It was too late for Robin—and the other Titans—when something went** BOOMBOOMBOOMBOOOOOM!!!** and each tiny bomb detonated into huge flashes of light.

But because of the sheer number of explosives Gizmo had used, one great flash lit the skies, rendering the Teen Titans completely blind. But Gizmo didn't wait for them to regain their bearings—he immediately flew to See-More's side, pulling him up and flung him over to where yet another one of Kyd Wykkyd's portal's suddenly appeared.

Before See-More disappeared, Gizmo called after him, "You better pay more attention, you dummy! You owe me!"

Turning back to the Titans, the hovering boy blew a big raspberry before activating a button on his chest pad.

Raven, who was the first to shake off the flash grenades' effects, recovered her vision just in time to see that Gizmo had a missile launched at them.

An actual military missile.

She froze. _You have _**got**_ to be joking_…

Looking over her shoulders, she realized that no one else was aware of the huge, volatile, death-inducing missile flying towards them. Raven hastily threw out her hands, erecting a shield over them, and transported them all away from danger through a huge shadowy raven.

And just in time. The missile, having lost trace of its target, flew crazily in all different directions before exploding safely in the sky.

_**----**_

"I do not understand." Starfire clasped her hands. "Friend Raven, you mean to say that Gizmo had truly meant to kill us when our sight was rendered useless?"

Robin narrowed his eyes. "Are you sure, Raven? The Hive Five have never actually used a weapon that could potentially _kill_ us before..."

"I'm telling you, I saw Gizmo use a _missile_ against us. He was going to kill us, too, if I hadn't teleported us all away in time! And besides, it took _hours_ for you guys to finally see straight. Cyborg said that it nearly burned out your optical nerves."

Cyborg was the second Titan to regain his sight. Through sheer will, it seemed. And partly because he was half-machine.

Nobody bothered pointing that out.

Robin rubbed his temples. "Still, I'm having a hard time believing it, Raven. I get the grenades since they're _definitely_ a possibility, and, sure, they have Gizmo and his gadgets, but an actual missile? Where could they have gotten such firepower?"

"And yet," Starfire injected, "the Five of Hive has been extremely hostile as of late. I have begun to think that they are capable of any evil now."

"She's right, Robin. It's like they suddenly transformed into…into…" Raven motioned her hand around for emphasis, "_real _villains. An elite group of them. It's kind of disconcerting, since they used to be kinda pathetic."

"I agree." Robin frowned. "But if they've been this active lately, where's Jinx? I thought she was their leader. And she's one of the main threats within the Hive Five, too. Logically, fighting them should be a lot easier since she hasn't shown up for awhile, but it hasn't. And they actually worked among themselves without arguing." He sounded disturbed at that thought, too.

"They have become most aggressive," Starfire agreed quietly. "And Friend Beast Boy has yet to awaken from being attacked by Kyd Wykkyed."

The three of them fell silent at this. It was true; Beast Boy had been preoccupied with Mammoth when Kyd Wykkyd had suddenly snuck up behind the Titan and knocked him unconscious with just the slightest touch of a gloved hand.

The catch was, it seemed to only work if Kyd Wykkyd struck a nerve in the base of the neck. Something that was made all-too possible with Mammoth's help.

The scary thing was, it was an actual well-organized trap. And up until now, they thought that Mammoth was all brawn and no brain. Could it be that Kyd Wykkyd could communicate with the supposedly stupid Mammoth from the very beginning? But the Hive Five wasn't especially known for their teamwork, either…

So when had that all changed? And since when had Kyd Wykkyd had so much _power_? He could now easily rival Raven, who was a worthy opponent in her own right. Indeed, in a battle of wits, strategy, and a lot of dark magic, Kyd Wykkyd had held his own against her!

The Teen Titans were just beginning to realize just what a threat the Hive Five really was. They had finally shown their true colors.

But if that was true, _what was the catalyst?_ They just couldn't understand it.

"Uh, guys?" Cyborg stepped into the room, having checked on the unconscious Beast Boy in the infirmary. "I think y'all outta see this." He clicked on the T.V.

The others drew close to the television, curious yet worried as to why Cyborg was looking especially grim. The answer soon became apparent.

The T.V. was on a news channel, which was showing video feed of a familiar building on fire.

"But wait, isn't that…?" At Robin's stunned expression, Cyborg nodded unhappily.

"Yeah. Jump City Memorial Hospital. And that's not all." His eyes darkened as he un-muted the screen.

"…earlier tonight, though there is reason to believe that it was an accidental fire, the police have reported that there is newfound evidence of it actually being intentional. Police are working to apprehend this criminal, who they believe have accomplices, as the fire was evidently the work of several perpetrators. Thankfully, there have only been minor injuries and all staff and patients have been evacuated safely. Next up, a riot downtown…"

Cyborg muted the screen. The room was silent.

Raven finally broke it. "So…while we were fighting the Hive Five…"

"The hospital was set on fire," Robin finished with a grimace.

"But please," Starfire pleaded, "who could have done such a terrible thing?"

"Oh, I'll tell you who." Cyborg suddenly looked angry. "Billy Numerous."

"_What_? The one that can duplicate himself a hundred times over? How do you figure?"

Cyborg sighed and his shoulders sagged. "Well, if you remember, he ran off at the beginning of the fight. Nobody else noticed him escape but me, so I put a tracer on him and stayed to fight."

Raven's eyes widened. "And when they said that there were multiple suspects…"

"Bingo. It was actually the work of Billy Numerous."

"But friends, why would the numerous Billys set aflame the place of healing? Did he not realize that people could be easily killed?"

Cyborg quirked a small, unexpected smile. "Actually, the news was wrong. The fire was actually chemical based and it _did_ start in the basement, but I found out that Billy Numerous accidentally set the lab on fire."

Looking miffed, Raven demanded, "But how could anyone accidentally start a _chemical__fire_, of all things?"

But Robin had a different question. "How'd you find this all out, Cyborg? If the police couldn't figure this out…"

"Hey, hey! This is _me_ we're talking about here." Cyborg grinned, a welcome reprieve from his dark mood "And here—let me show you."

Smoothly sliding into a seat, Cyborg tapped into the computer a string of codes and the T.V. changed into a computer screen. "Now, I hacked into the hospital's system after I traced Billy Numerous there, and discovered something in the ole basement." After tapping the keyboard a few more times, a video opened up on screen and started to play.

_Off-screen, a voice could be heard. "Lookie here, Billy! I found me this place's laboratory!" But the voice was cracking unnaturally and the image feed was distorted._

_The door swings open and Billy Numerous steps through cautiously, looking around appreciatively. "Whooowee! We've hit the jackpot here, Billy!"_

_A second Billy Numerous steps through the door after the first one. He, too, paused to look around the hospital's laboratory. He gave a long whistle. "I agree! Good job, Billy!" The second Billy stops, staring intently at something off-screen, apparently enthralled with something he'd seen. Suddenly, a broad grin makes its way across his face. "Here're the thingys, Billy! I've found 'em, Billy, I've found 'em!"_

"_Heheheh…good spottin', Billy! Good spottin'! Now…"_

"…_Start grabbin'!" both Billys crowed. Both of them split themselves into two before they went to work. But the third Billy suddenly sees something nearby. He wanders away from the others._

"_Hold up, Billy! What're these thingys right 'ere?"_

"_What're you doin' there, Billy?" one of them wails. "We're supposed to steal these vials right 'ere!"_

_Too late. Something shatters. All three Billys whirl around and round on poor clumsy Billy._

"_ARRRRGH! Darn it, Billy! Whatya doin'? Hurry now, Billy! Grab 'em all and let's ditch this place!"_

"_Got 'em, Billy! Now let's make way!"_

_Another glass breaks off-screen, and the camera briefly shakes. An angry hiss, and then an explosion is promptly heard._

"_TOO LATE, BILLY! HURRY, HURRY, HURRY!!!"_

_The unmistakable sizzle and hiss of a fire roars in the background. It doesn't take long to spread through the room until flames are visible onscreen. Something starts to crackle dangerously nearby and the screen slowly sputters out until the camera is completely out of commission._

"Uh…" Raven eloquently said. "So…what did Billy Numerous take?"

"Dunno." Cyborg shrugged. "Can't get anywhere near there—the place is trashed, and the police are _everywhere_. But whatever it is, it was important enough for them to steal directly from Jump City Memorial Hospital's old lab. And enough research to actually discover its existence."

"Do you mean to say that there is more than one laboratory of hospitals?"

"Yeah, last I checked the old lab was abandoned and they built a new one in a separate building. I think the city opted to use it for medicine storage instead, so I don't know how medicine could have caused a chemical fire this bad—"

Robin stopped him with a hand. "Wait, did you say _medicine_?"

"Yeah, but what does that have to do with—" Cyborg broke off, blinking. Turning to the others, he said slowly, "Are you guys thinking what I'm thinking?"

Raven rolled her eyes. "No."

Robin's eyebrows furrowed. "But…what would they need those for? And how did they know to steal which specific _one_?"

"Hm…yeah, now that I think about it…Billy Numerous also knew the exact location of what he was looking for. But I wonder how—"

"Please, Friend Cyborg, what substance type was the numerous Billys attempting to steal within the abandoned laboratory of old?"

The others exchanged a look with one another. Raven drawled out, "You mean…you don't know?"

"Star, what we think is that the Hive Five is after some sort of medicine. A…a _cure _of sorts, I think. At least, that's what the lab had been used for in the first place. For research," he added unnecessarily.

"Robin's right, Star. Checking the hospital's archive, I know that the lab was used to make and produce medicines for disease when they had to shut down. They even had a cancer cure gig going on before…well, it's the best facility Jump City has to offer. Or at least it _was_."

"If that is the function of the abandoned lab, the one the Five of Hive infiltrated and stole from, what ailment do they seek to cure?"

Starefire's innocent but valid question brought a standstill in their conversation. Indeed, for what other use, than to cure, would the Hive Five have for secret medicine?

But the question was, _what_ were they trying to cure and _who_?

_**----**_

"So, what've we got?" demanded Gizmo.

The original Billy Numerous looked edgy. Laying out the vials on the tabletop for everyone to see, he said, "Billy here destructed the lab and these 'ere were the only ones we could see."

"It ain't my fault, Billy! Dang dog crazy laaaaboratory blew up 'fore I knew it!"

"Move it! I gotta see 'em." Gizmo shoved past the two Billys, grasping the tiny vials in one hand and inspecting it with a gadget in the other. For all his impatience, though, Gizmo was surprisingly gentle with them.

As he continued to examine one of them, See-More gave an unhappy sigh. "Couldn't you guys have at least avoided setting the hospital on fire?"

Both Billys exclaimed, "It weren't my fault, it were Billy's!" before pointing at each other.

Kyd Wykkyd just shook his head and turned the T.V. on.

And what they saw immediately caught their attention.

All five of them stared wordlessly at the television; even Gizmo had paused in his work to stare at the video feed of a burning building.

But not just anything old building.

It was the very same hospital they were talking about—_the Jump City Memorial Hospital!_

None of them heard the anchorwoman's words, as it only washed over them. All their attention was on the video that featured the building burning to the ground, and the firemen that struggled in vain to dose it.

They had made the mistake of assuming that this was just a normal fire. And the water had only made it worse. Soon enough, they caught on and brought out the necessary equipment to deal with chemical fires.

And yet, none of the Hive Five saw the desperation lined in the firemen's faces, or even contemplate the impact this event would have on the city as a whole. Nor did they ever stop to think and wonder whether everyone would come out a-okay.

Because they didn't care for any of that. What others thought and saw as they watched this program mattered very little to the members of the Hive Five. Because all they really saw was their last hope, their last lead, burn to the ground.

Gizmo, who had long returned to his work, had been unnoticed by the others who continued to silently watch the news. It was his frustrated yell that snapped through their reveries and brought their attention onto him.

"This ain't the stickin' cure!" Gizmo smashed the vials that were in his hand onto the ground. His whole body trembled, his eyes wide and disbelieving. He looked like he was going into shock.

And then slowly, but surely, sobs started to wrack the boy genius's body. Sinking to his knees in despair, he choked out, "This…this is it, y-you guys…it's over!" He pounded the ground. "Why, why, why, why, _why did it have to be her_?! It's not—it's not _fair_! Damn it—why? Why did the stupid place have to burn down?! Why is everything so_ stupid_!!"

Kyd Wykkyd slowly crouched down to Gizmo's level and laid a hand on his head in a rare gesture of comfort. He could offer no words to soothe his pain, only share it.

The rest of the Hive Five despondently made their way towards the pair and in a moment of rare silence, shared their grief with one another. They didn't look at each other. It had been slowly dawning on them just what the burning of the hospital meant, and it had only sank in, their revelation spurred on by Gizmo's breakdown.

And Gizmo, who had made it a personal mission to do whatever he could to prepare a cure, felt like a failure.

A complete and utter failure.

There were a lot of things he wasn't proud of. Things a villain-in-training shouldn't ever feel. Especially in his line of work where ruthlessness was a requirement, callousness was a given, and heartlessness was expected.

_Heartlessness was expected_. Yeah, that was what he tried to tell himself over and over whenever he felt proud of Jinx's top grades back at the academy or whenever he spent time with Mammoth, playing video games like Doomsday or Mega Monkeys 2 with him.

Things he shouldn't have felt, he did. And things he should have shut away someplace that never saw the light of day, he reveled in.

He was their kid bro. And he loved it.

But there was only so much Gizmo could take before he broke.

He felt this utter feeling of…_something_. He couldn't explain it, and he couldn't come close to describing it. The closest thing, he supposed, was helplessness. But it wasn't that either.

When that crut-rusted tin can came into H.I.V.E. Academy and called himself "Stone," he knew something was up with that guy. Something bad. But Jinx spent so much friggin' _time_ with that piece of junk! And she was always so…_happy_ then, too.

He wanted to feel happy _for _her. But he didn't. He felt crappy. As if he was being replaced. When he confronted Mammoth about it, the big guy didn't even know _what_ he was even talking about! Oh, but Gizmo knew the threat was real and that it was definitely _there_. And he had to stop it somehow!

But that wasn't what irked him the most about the cruddy situation. Even when spending time as a trio, _she_ never smiled as much with them as she did with _Stone_._ She_ never laughed as much with them as she did in classes with _Stone_. And _she_, throughout his entire stay, spent more time with cruddy ol' _Stone_ than she had with he and Mammoth the entire last _year_!

And when _Stone_ was revealed for what he was, a stickin' Teen _Titan_, Gizmo wanted to dance with glee. But he didn't. Because even _then_ stupid tin man was making her sad—when he was long gone!

And when Jinx _finally _got over stupid, cruddy, outdated _Cyborg_, Kid Flash came into the picture! Oh, how Gizmo _hated_ Kid Flash. The whole crap deal with Kid Flash and that mean old hag Madam Rouge happened a couple months ago, but that didn't mean Jinx had forgotten about it.

If possible, her fixation on Kid Flash was even _worse _than her obsession with Stone, or Cyborg, or—or whatever the heck that piece of scrapped metal was called these days!

And the worst part was that he couldn't even talk to anyone about it! No one understood the turmoil that he was in! All those nasty thoughts of _heroes_ and the _Teen Titans_ couldn't be good for such a villain as himself!

He even lost sleep over it, however pathetic that sounded. But, hey, he was entitled to self-pity if Jinx could go all _mushy-eyed_ over superheroes.

But for all that…Gizmo would've given anything to see Jinx acting like a lovelorn old fool again than…than seeing her like…this. He wanted anything for everything to go back to normal; where he and Jinx badgered each other into impromptu fights…where the Hive Five just went out for a night out stealing…when had everything gone wrong?

Because this…this time it was…this time it was really bad.

This time, it wasn't an issue over whether he was being replaced with someone who didn't even exist, or some tidy widy superhero who sped in and out of HQ giving her friggin' _roses_…this time, the threat was real. And it wasn't just a rotten egg of a Taking Over The World plan, either.

This was _serious_. This was _permanent_. This was…real.

And no matter how hard he tried, Gizmo couldn't stop it.

He couldn't stop it, he couldn't stop it, _he couldn't stop it_…

Jinx was dying. And there was nothing he could do about it.

_Nothing_.

* * *

The Hive Five are my favorite characters in all of Teen Titans (though Raven comes suspiciously close to first...) and I hope to develop this particular group of villains in a way that can be seen as canonical. I tried to keep everyone in character and have slaved over how I should present the (currently absent) heroine of the fic: Jinx. You guys don't know how many times I've watched Episode 60 in order to prepare myself, mostly as research for how to pull Kid Flash off. And there will be Kid Flash-Jinx interactions, no doubt, but only to the extent that Episode 60 implies and allows. 

But that isn't the focus of the fic. The point to this fic is the struggle I'm going to put Hive Five through because the Teen Titans aren't the only ones who go through crap and grow from it. Yes, I love those guys, but since when has an author tried to seriously portray the Hive Five in a way that the focus of the entire fic is on them? Most fics where Kid Flash is paired up with Jinx features a betrayed Hive Five that declares Jinx a 'traitor' at the drop of a hat and goes on to become the occasional antagonists of that romance fic. I wanted to see a Hive Five who weren't straggling along like that.


	2. dstv ii

Fanfiction recently got new kickass functions, but they still didn't fix the problem of how their server likes to post users' documents as chapters with wordssmashedotgetherlikethis. It happens only around italics, boldfaced, and underlined words, but if you see any words smushed together, please tell me.

That said, more onto the drama that is the revamped Hive Five.

* * *

"The Hive Five…they're planning something, I know it. But what?" 

"Please. Robin. Aren't they _always_ planning something?"

"The sarcasm isn't helping, Raven."

"So sorry," Raven drawled, "but day in, day out you've been at it, trying to crack the minds of six supervillains. It's like Red X all over again—only this time we know what you're trying to do." And yet they still weren't privy to their leader's plans. It annoyed her, not she showed it.

"Raven, that…doesn't make any sense. But you do realize that that _was_ my alter ego, right? And you have to admit, if anyone can solve this, it's me. Admit it, I'm the best Jump City has to offer."

She glowered. "Modest much?"

"Oh, ha ha. Very funny."

"I try, Robin. I do try."

"Have you contacted the others?"

Raven yawned. "What do you think?"

"I'll take that as a yes."

"Yes, sir," she confirmed dryly.

"And…" Robin paused briefly, "how's BB?"

If Raven hadn't known Robin as long as she had, she would have missed it completely. As it were, she could very well see how his body suddenly tensed, the subtle worry lines that appeared on his face, and the way his posture shifted ever so slightly into one she'd come to associate as "agitated" with Robin.

In short, Robin was insanely worried about Beast Boy, who had yet to leave the infirmary. He wasn't asking out of obligation as the team leader; he was asking because he _cared_. He was asking out of friendship.

Raven didn't quite know what to make of this Robin, so changed from the days of the team's beginnings. The change had been so subtle, so gradual, no one but she had really caught on to it. She found she couldn't quite look him in the eye.

"Well…he's doing better, I suppose."

"_Raven_…"

"Well…as well as he could be, considering that Kyd Wykkyd knocked him out using a combination of his powers and a well aimed blow to the head."

Robin raised a brow. "I know where Kyd Wykkyd attacked Beast Boy. But he shouldn't be out of it for…well, _this_ long."

"But that's the thing, Robin." Raven's forehead creased. "Kyd Wykkyd used his powers of transportation to actually go _farther_ than skin deep. It's as if…as if he permanently shut off a part of Beast Boy's brain by accessing a part nobody else could touch. Almost like a spectral doctor, but worse."

She looked away with a scowl. "However ruthless that move was, considering how potent that attack really is, Kyd Wykkyd had manipulated his powers to an extent I could never hope to achieve."

"Hey," Robin said softly, coming over to her. Laying a comforting hand on her shoulder, he added, "You're now able to do anything you want with your powers. Trigon's gone for good, and the prophecy doesn't matter anymore."

She hesitated. "It's just been so _hard_. I never expected to live through…well, the end of the _world_…and now…"

"Here we are," he finished wryly. Robin quickly turned serious. "But, Raven, everything you knew, everything you've been taught…it doesn't matter anymore. You can live the life that you want to without having to worry whether there'll be an intergalactic demon after you or not."

"When you put it that way…"

"Trust me," he grinned. "That's _exactly_ how it is."

Raven fell silent in contemplation. When she looked up again, she smiled. A small smile, but a smile nonetheless. "Thanks, Robin."

"No prob," he said casually before changing the subject. "So, what do you think about—" He was interrupted when the computer suddenly blipped on, a window opened up on the screen. Frowning, Robin walked over and accessed the computer.

"Er…hello?" he asked, brows furrowing. The window flickered for a moment before Kid Flash's face appeared onscreen.

"_Robin_!" Kid Flash gasped. "Are you guys—do you mind if I come over for a sec?"

"What's wrong?" Robin leaned forward, alarmed.

"Nothing, nothing! I just—_AAARGH_!" Kid Flash was suddenly cut off. His T-Communicator was abruptly knocked out of his hands. It fell to the ground, and the screen blacked out for a few seconds. Robin had griped the edge of the control panel when the image came back on.

And the person on the other side was definitely not Kid Flash.

"Hiya,_Titans_," See-More grinned nastily as way of greeting.

"_See-More_—! What did you do to him? What did you do with Kid Flash?" Robin snarled.

If possible, See-More's smile became even broader.

"What's wrong, _loser_, had enough yet?" Gizmo's voice could be heard off-screen, but the words weren't meant for them. It was made chillingly clear why when a scream suddenly tore through the air. Robin desperately called out for Kid Flash, but he knew that it was too late.

The Hive Five had gotten a hold of him. The Hive Five _as of late_.

Robin slammed a fist at the screen, the helplessness of the situation sinking in. "What are you guys doing with him? _Let him go_!"

The T-Communicator was tossed through the air where Gizmo caught it. He shoved his face into the screen. "Listen up and listen _closely_, you dweebs!"

Gizmo tore his face away and allowed Kid Flash to be seen behind him, who was struggling to keep from screaming again. Kid Flash was being kept in some kind of electrical force field, and Robin just caught a glimpse of Kid Flash's desperate expression before Gizmo brought the T-Communicator back to himself. Robin snarled.

"This is what happens to anyone who messes with the Hive Five! Got it? Good! Now, you _and _your stinkin' teammates better leave us alone! And don't _ever_ send stupid Kid Flash to do your dirty work ever again!"

The T-Communicator went dead.

Robin stared baffled at the computer screen before slamming a fist onto a nearby button and barking into a mic.

"Titans! Something's come up. Get in here!" he yelled before severing the connection. When Robin pivoted immediately to pace, Raven sighed.

Floating over to him, she said quietly, "Robin, they'll be here soon. But you _must_ calm down."

"How can I, Raven," he motioned angrily to the computer, "when the Hive Five have already captured Kid Flash? And I wasn't there to_stop_ them? What are they going to do with him and why did they capture him? I just can't figure it out, Raven. Something big is going on; something that I just can't put my finger on…and I don't like it!"

"I don't think they're going to turn him over to the Brotherhood of Evil."

"But how can you know that for sure?" he demanded.

The doors slid open and Cyborg came in, followed closely by Starfire. "Because that's not their goal anymore."

"Cyborg!" Robin ran up to them. "What do you mean?"

"I have assisted Cyborg in the investigations of various places the Hive Five have been reported to have stolen from and we have discovered a pattern to their recent activity."

"Star's right, man. There's something weird going on with them, and we're going to find out what." Cyborg looked grim. "What happened?"

"Kid Flash just contacted us, but before we could hear his full message, the Hive Five caught up with him and severed our link." Raven grimaced. "I think this is going to double as a rescue mission, too."

"Yeah, and look at this, Cyborg." Robin tapped a key and a video recording of Kid Flash's contact with them played. "Kid Flash used his T-Communicator to contact us, when the Hive Five got a hold of him. Gizmo and See-More for certain, but I'm not so sure about the other four."

While Cyborg and Starfire stared intently at the screen, Robin pointed out the moment when Gizmo had let them see Kid Flash captured. "Any idea, Cyborg, to what that is?"

Tapping his chin thoughtfully, Cyborg frowned. "I could be wrong…but that's probably a containment field." When the recorded Kid Flash let out a cry, Cyborg winced. "Level seven by the sound of it. But that's hard, even for me! The Hive Five aren't joking around, guys."

"We guessed that, Cy," Raven drawled, but her expression was hard.

"And they think that we're the ones who sent Kid Flash to spy on them, by the sound of it." Robin sat down heavily, furious still, but his temper had cooled.

"So…am I correct to say that the Flash of Kid has somehow infiltrated the headquarters of the Five of Hive?"

"Yep, something along those lines," Raven paused. "But what I don't get is their _anger_."

Three blank faces were her only response. Raven sighed. "When Kid Flash contacted us, I studied everyone's body movements. He was frantic and he'd probably been running away from the Hive Five. Surprising, knowing how fast he is. And See-More, behind that nasty facade, was really pleased about something, while Gizmo was furious."

"But, Friend Raven, why would a fury of Gizmo's be cause of bewilderment for you?"

Raven gave Starfire a pointed look. "Because that wasn't just righteous anger Gizmo had. _That_ angry was _my_ kind of angry. As in, the first time we faced Dr. Light. And yes, Cyborg, the very same one from Nevermore."

"Nevermore?"

"Basically, Robin, that one time when me, BB, and Raven all came out of her room? Yeah, we both accidentally got into her head and there were all of her emotions running around that looked exactly like her but in different colored capes and then we had to fight this Trigon look-alike and it turned it was actually her angry emotion gone wild," Cyborg managed to finally wheeze out. He immediately started panting from the lack of air when he was finished, but flinched when he saw Robin's stony expression.

"Friend Cyborg, why did you not divulge this information that pertained to our friend, Raven, before?"

"Em…"

"Look," Raven cut in impatiently, "the point is, there's something seriously _wrong_ with the Hive Five. They are not acting normal. Cyborg's right, there's something weird going on with them. But no one's privy to what we want to know except the Hive Five themselves."

"No," a voice suddenly called out, accompanied by rasping breaths. "There's someone…else." He stepped into view. "_Me_."

Everyone turned in shock to where Kid Flash himself stood in the doorway, who looked extremely relieved.

"Yep…the Fastest Boy Alive, in the flesh." He gave a weak grin before falling flat on his face.

_**---- An hour ago…**_

"What—_what_ are you doing here? Do you have a death wish or something?"

"Oh, come on. I'm just here to keep you company." He flashed her a grin. "Don't you just love me?"

She stifled the urge to hex him. "If they find you here, I'm not vouching for you again."

"Eh, I'll take my chances. But nice _place_, by the way." Kid Flash zipped around the room, ignoring her baleful glare. "Newly built infirmary. Huh, lot better than that gloomy place you call a room. Oh," he experimentally poked an I.V. stand, "this…is stolen, right?"

"Is there any particular _reason _you're always around? It's not like you particularly care for my health," she snapped.

Kid Flash quickly turned serious. Holding out his hands before him in a gesture of peace, he smoothly slid into the seat next to her. "Easy there. In case you haven't noticed, I _do_ care for your wellbeing. Plus, I've noticed you're really lonely nowadays."

Jinx looked up at the ceiling, exasperated. "Right. Suave Kid Flash, infiltrating our not-so-secret HQ, just to spend time with me? You have _got_ to be kidding me."

"So you admit that I'm suave, then?" He waggled his eyebrows. "I had no idea you cared."

"_Ugh…_you're making me noxious. Go away."

"It's not like a little fresh air, sun, and my company will make you any sicker! What do you say to letting me take you outside? Just for a little bit. I _know_ you want to. All they're doing is keeping you cooped up in here."

"In case you haven't noticed, I'm _sick_. Deathly ill. You know, teetering on the edge of dying? And unlike _you_, they actually do care about me."

Kid Flash gave her a lost, puppy-eyed expression. "What am I, chopped liver?"

"_No_. All I am to you is some pet project. We're not allies. We're not friends. Hell, I don't even _like_ you. And stop looking at me like that! You don't like me either. So are you going to let me sleep in peace without you in my face every ten seconds or not?"

"Do…you really want me gone that badly? Okay, okay, the glare says it all! Yeesh. Fine, I'll leave." He stood, but then added the next ominous words of, "But I'll be back."

"Please say you won't. Get out. _Now_."

"Nope, can't promise you that," he said cheerfully, before zipping away. Jinx couldn't believe it. He actually _listened_ to her! He left! This was _great._

So then why did she feel so…crushed, all of the sudden? It wasn't like she was secretly hoping he'd refuse and stay by her side…like so many times in the past, right?

Staring after him, Jinx pulled her knees up towards her and rested her head on them. She didn't understand it, but suddenly she couldn't help but feel a a weird sense of loss cut through her.

It was with a lurch that she realized that Kid Flash had been her only_ real_ human contact for awhile now.

There was Kyd Wykkyd, but he came in only for checkups. See-More occasionally came in, but he hadn't visited _once_ this whole week. And the others were always so _busy_ nowadays…and…and she especially missed Gizmo.

Missed arguing just for fun with the little squirt. Missed messing with his stuff and vice versa. Missed every little mannerism about him that she'd never have thought she'd ever miss. Kid Flash was right.

She _was_ lonely.

It was only made worse when Kyd Wykkyd kept insisted on making her stay here. The infirmary…was nice. It was flattering that they went through all the trouble of stealing pretty much _everything_ here for her. Just to make her treatment comfortable. It wasn't her room, but it was pretty close.

Pretty close to _becoming_ her room, that is.

In the beginning, she got hit hard. This…disease thing she had really had her knocked out for a loop. The first week was…really bad. Her health deteriorated rapidly back then, she remembered. She could still feel the gnawing effects her disease had on her after that first week was over. She felt horribly sluggish, and her powers…her powers…

It was then her team got really freaked, she supposed. Then again, she would've been too if _her_ leader had suddenly lost consciousness a lot, prone to extreme lethargy, and not to mention the abrupt spurt of random magick appearing all over the place.

Yeah. That first week was _hell_. And it only got worse…and worse…and worse. It got so bad she was pretty much under house arrest. Not that she could leave, either way. It was just too damn hard. Too damn _tiring_. But she didn't want to just lay there all day! Everybody always kept going out, and they were having so much fun…that was when they stole all this hospital stuff for her. But it was so _boring _inside, and she missed the city, it and all its cheeriness. It just wasn't fair.

And so, for the last several weeks, she got really acquainted with the ceiling above her. They had a real relationship, that ceiling and her.

It was then that Kid Flash appeared, literally, out of nowhere. He…challenged her. Forced her to retort, forced her to use that astounding wit of hers, forced her to be…well, _forceful_. Like her usual self, really. Lethargy suddenly seemed a mere obstacle compared to the overwhelming urge to smack the kid whenever possible. It was just too damn hard to ignore.

Naturally, none of the Hive Five knew about Kid Flash's little visits, save for her. But they immediately noticed the change in their leader. Unfortunately.

After all, how could they not, when they'd been watching her for the past month with a hawk's eye?

They assumed it was the disease letting up a bit. They were wrong, but if it caused them to not obsess so much over her, then all the more better for her. She wasn't used to them being so…_protective_ over her. It was disconcerting. But…the fact that they cared _that much_ for her…well, let's just say she was willing to overlook their faults a bit. Even if they were suddenly around her 24/7 like stupid hens.

Still…it was a show of loyalty that she'd never been shown before. It was an amazing feeling, to know that did car—no, just that they still wanted her around even when she became a frigging invalid.

But, she'd never imagined them to be so completely _affected_ because of her predicament. They were ruthless. Cold. Unbending. Unyielding. Willing to go through any lengths to save their previously underappreciated leader. Yeah, the leader is sure appreciated now, but it wasn't what she…

Well, it was the team she'd envisioned when she was a naïve little thing back in H.I.V.E. Academy. The wonder team. _Her_ wonder team. The best villain group around headed by the best villainess around. It was exciting, it was fun, it was…it was the team she _hated_ now.

She missed their jokes, their laughter, their mannerisms, and the fun they used to have. The good times, even the bad.

Now, they were just _possessed_. They were so cold now! In exchange for the attention she wanted from them, she got a team of coldhearted villains on her hands along for the ride.

But,_ damn it_, she didn't _want_ that anymore! She wanted her friends back!

Jinx covered her face in her hands. She didn't want _any _of that anymore…

Was that why she kept longing for Kid Flash to appear once more, sneaking into her room, talk with her, make her feel like the old Jinx again? Make her feel as if nothing had changed? After all, all was right in the world when Jinx and Kid Flash kept bickering with one another, right?

Right? Right…?

How was it that he knew _exactly_ what she needed…? The right words to say, the right moment to appear? How was it that he could instinctively tell whether she needed cheering up or reminders of the past? Sure, he was infuriating as all hell. He was the worst roommate, and she always had to keep back from frustrated screaming when he made her mad. He ignored what she says one minute and then turns around and randomly answers it! He was rude and…and selfish and pigheaded, and he never gave her what she wanted! So then how…how did Kid Flash suddenly become her lifeline?

She considered this new, kick ass Hive Five not her own. A group of strangers. A team that she couldn't identify with anymore. They were the same_ people_…but the things she'd come to associate with each of them was slowly changing…slowly, very slowly, their warm images were dying in her mind, slowly being replaced by these aliens._ Slowly_…

If searching for some mystical cure to save her life was molding them into this…this _heartless_ group of people…then she wouldn't live. She would let herself die. She'd stop fighting. She didn't want to _see_ the ruin and fall of the team she'd once called her own. She didn't want any of that!

Why let them become some twisted rendition of the Hive Five if she was the reason behind it? Why not put a stop to their horrifying transformation if she could just quietly disappear away?

_Why_?

But…Kid Flash…how did he become so _important_ to her, all of the sudden? He always caught that strange glint in her eye and spoke so quietly to her, so softly reprimanding her for thoughts he had no business addressing. Talking her about very private matters. As if he had any right! And what was worse she actually _listened _to him!

What…changed?

From when she first saw him face to face in the museum, to the moment he teased her with his presence in this despicable infirmary…how had she _fallen _for him? How could she have?

She understood now that Bad Luck didn't immediately equate as villain…but that didn't excuse the things she'd done regardless.

The team she'd killed.

The team she'd lost.

Because how else could the Hive Five have turned into this unfamiliar ruthless group of people more reminiscent of the Brotherhood of Evil than the people she'd connected with before? Where does the fault lie solely but in the leader?

Jinx _hated_ herself for it. And she hated _Kid Flash_ for giving her a purpose to keep going on.

Even if she knew the longer she lived with this curse, this disease, the farther the Hive Five would be from what they used to be. And even if she somehow miraculously survived, how broken would they all be?

"_Damn you_, Kid Flash. _What have you done to me_?"

But Jinx knew what he had done.

He'd taken her heart and ran like hell with it.

She'd never been this introverted until _he_ came into her life. Probably about the same time she began to spout the corniest and cheesiest of lines, too. And was that a _pun _she made?

"_Jinx_! What's wrong?"

_See-More_…?

He…came?

The feeling of pure bliss that'd suddenly risen in her suddenly crashed.

Jinx hastily wiped away stray tears. When had she started crying? She couldn't remember. "Oh, n-no…it's nothing."

"Of course it's _something_." He sat down in the chair Kid Flash had been sitting in minutes ago. See-More sat heavily, very wearily, whereas Kid Flash had alternated between being perched at the edge of his seat and lounging in it as if he'd all the world's time. Which he had, in a way.

The contrast in visitors almost made her choke. "Does it hurt somewhere? Do you feel like fainting again? Jinx? Why…why are you crying?" he asked, worried.

Jinx was crying because See-More was so _kind_. How stupid was that?

But it wasn't stupid. That was the thing. It _wasn't_. She was the stupid one here.

"I'm…I'm just so happy to see you again, you know? I haven't seen you for awhile." By hastily rubbing her eyes, she missed his completely dumbfounded look. And the rising blush on his face.

See-More cleared his throat uncomfortably. "Sorry I couldn't come more often. Missions and all that…" he mumbled.

Jinx grinned. "I'm just glad to see _someone_."_ Other than Kid Flash, you mean. He's the only one I've been seeing lately_…

"So…y-you," he looked uncertain, "still want me here?"

Stuttering? Since when did See-More stutter…? Not since… 

"Of course I still want you here!" Jinx exclaimed, sitting upright, giving him a very familiar critical glare. "What gave you that idea?"

See-More's eye flickered to a vase nearby before looking away. "N-nothing…I suppose."

Jinx looked over his shoulder and stopped at the sight.

A rose.

_Kid Flash_…?

Before she could even start feeling guilty, a sound snapped her out of her reverie. Looking around at where the insistent beeping was coming from, she gave See-More an inquisitive look when he tapped his watch. A face appeared on the miniature screen. Jinx wondered when they'd gotten such technology.

"See-More! Where are you? Hurry up and get _over_ here!"

"Gizmo?" See-More's brows furrowed. "What's wrong, man?"

"Oh, nothing's _wrong_…except that I've bagged _Kid Flash_!" Gizmo's delighted giggle could be heard from the watch, even more grating through the electronic transmitter, but See-More seemed pleased.

Jinx felt herself freeze. She wanted to deny it…she _wanted_ to not believe it…but Gizmo's mirth was completely genuine…it was too real…

Kid Flash…was captured? She clutched the sheets.

_How_…!

A grin slowly spread across See-More's face. "Be right there, Gizmo. Don't start the show without me!"

_The show_? she thought desperately.

"See-More…" Jinx tugged on his arm. "Don't go….Stay. Please?"

His smile dropped. See-More looked conflicted, and not a little guilty. She realized, with startling clarity, that he'd probably forgotten she was even in the room just moments before. Before she rained on his parade. Before she bothered him with her request.

Jinx stared.

"I can't, Jinx. I gotta go." He gently pulled his arm out of her grip. "I'm sorry. But it's because—"

She gave a weak laugh, never mind that her too tight throat protested the action. "Yeah, yeah, I know…got to go catch Kid Flash and all—" She broke off, pupils abruptly dilating before closing shut as she started to cough violently. But even as she struggled to muffle her hacking, Jinx couldn't hold it back, and her frame shuddered with the effort.

See-More rushed forward, cradling her body in his arms. He was blushing as he did so, but there was something fierce in his eyes.

Finally, her coughing subsided, but her eyes remained closed. "I'm dying, aren't I?" It wasn't a question. Instead, Jinx's voice was worn out and weary, resigned. She'd known this already, after all.

He didn't answer her for a long time. Staring fixedly at the door, he finally pulled something out of a pocket.

Keeping it clenched in his hand, hidden, See-More murmured quietly, "No one else will tell you so I will. We're still looking for medicine but…"

"There's none for the freak disease I got."

See-More fell quiet. "We're still looking. There's _always_ a cure. There has to be," he muttered the last bit to himself.

"_No_. No more lies. No more _sugarcoated words_." Jinx's eyes suddenly snapped open, blazing in a likeness like that of her power.

Pushing him away, she demanded, "I want the truth. Everyone keeps dancing around the subject…and no one _tells_ me anything anymore!" _Did they ever_?

"We don't want you to worry so much all the time, Jinx. It's not good for your recovery, y'know."

"I don't _care_. I just…I just…I'm not like a stupid rose!" She flung her hand out towards the flower in question. "I'm not about to fall apart anytime soon, and I'm not something _fragile_, either. If you guys tell me I'm dying I'm not going to act like a little girl over it!"

See-More looked away. "Yeah…I guess you're right."

Jinx lowered her eyes and bowed her head. She suddenly felt like crying._ Again_.

"You do know that Kid Flash was the one to have brought you here in the first place, right?" he said suddenly.

"No," she replied shortly. "Why?"

"We came home one day to find you collapsed on our doorstep and Kid Flash panicking. I think that was the first time he was actually happy to _see_ us. It was weird. Before we could catch him, he ran away."

"Why are you telling me all this?"

"Can't you tell?" See-More's expression was inscrutable. Shaking his head slowly, he took her hand and clasped something in it. Closing her hand around the object, he stood. "I gotta go help Gizmo now, so sit tight, 'kay?"

"Yeah…sure."

Long after he'd gone, she finally opened her hand to see what See-More had given her.

A soft smile curved her lips. He'd given her the pedant of the necklace she'd been trying to steal when she first encountered Kid Flash.

The smile slid off her face. How could See-More still have remembered that stupid little talk they had? The one right before the museum heist…when she'd confided in him just how _badly_ she wanted that thing. She'd thought he wasn't listening to her at all, because, after all, no one ever really _listened_ to her then. She just needed an outlet right then, a means of justification for all her past deeds.

But…he remembered why she wanted it so badly. He had listened to her. And it'd even been stolen, finally, just for her.

And that talk was_ ages_ ago.

And the legend…good luck to fall upon those who bear its crest, but better luck to those gifted with the pendant from a…

The pendant fell from limp hands.

How…could that be? Did the legend dictate then—

_No!_ I_ couldn't_ be true…it just…couldn't…he was like a_ brother_ to her.

How could…how could he…?

See-More, he…he_ couldn't_ have liked her.

…_Right_?

* * *

Jinx is here! Jinx is angsty! ...Jinx is not going to speculate any more on See-More. But, seriously, she has more on her mind right now so that whole agonizing bit towards the end won't pop up for awhile. Kid Flash showed up, too, and it's only the second chapter...but I love that guy too much. 

You'll notice Teen Titans had a bit of screen time so far when, before, I ranted that Hive Five was the focus--and they are! However, I'm following the general scheme of an episode. I love using the Titan's ignorance against them and to frustrate the reader; through them, I'm able to give insights and dialogue and info that no other character would be able to give. But, yes, Beast Boy isn't going to show up for awhile--I still can't figure out what to do with him or how to write him so Kyd Wykkyd conveniently knocked him out for me.


	3. dstv iii

This chapter is comprised of two scenes. The first is around 2000 words and the second is around 3000, but the latter one is a mess of introspective Jinx: You guys won't be getting action anytime soon. The closet you'll get to action here is dialogue between Raven and Kid Flash. Yes, I like Raven. Shut up.

* * *

"Ow…owowowowww!!"

"Hold_ still_," Raven said testily. "You're going to be fine."

"Says y—_OW_!"

When Raven finished, she had a particularly smug look on her face. When Kid Flash started running around trying to elevate the pain, she deadpanned, "If you would have stayed put I could have put the healing salve on them." She held up the container full of said salve.

Kid Flash blinked and then suddenly reappeared on the bed again. When she jumped, he gave an easy grin. "Yes, Mother."

"You're incorrigible," she muttered, but slathered liberal amounts of the cream on him anyway. She stopped. Glaring at him, Raven added, "And don't be getting ideas either."

"Who, me? Ideas? Never! Although I have to say, I'm really enjoying, you know, your _ministrations_." If he hadn't zipped away just then, he and the bed would've been chucked across the room. As it were, Raven pulled the bed to a stop, midair, when it became apparent he'd gone.

Stopping behind her, Kid Flash buffed his nails. "Temper, temper—_aaah_!" He dodged her punch, exclaiming, "Jeez, I was only kidding! Kidding! Damn, I thought sorcerers didn't do the punch-kick thing!"

"Oh, joy. Another joker?"

"Who's the other?"

Raven pointed at Beast Boy's prone body.

"Oh."

"Yes, 'oh,'" she said, irate. "Now, do you _want_ me to finish or not?"

"Okay, okay…note to self, don't flirt with Raven…"

"I heard that."

Kid Flash shot her a cheeky smile, adding, "…Because she's a prude."

This time, she did manage in a hit. But only because he let her, grinning the whole time, too.

Raven continued to work on him in silence. When she stopped again, he shot her an inquisitive look.

"Why…why were you hanging around their headquarters?"

Several days ago, when he finally had come to consciousness again, he related to them what happened, but failed to mention _why_ he'd caught the Hive Five's attention in the first place. But he never fooled her. Not even when his poor attempts at misleading the conversation actually worked on her team.

She decided to interrogate him on her own.

Kid Flash squirmed a bit. "Em…can I plead the fifth?"

Raven arched her brow coolly. "Now I know you're hiding something." The world faded suddenly black for Kid Flash before he found himself in an unfamiliar room. A dark and creepy room. But he knew immediately which room this was.

_Raven's room_.

"Isn't this place, like… even closed off to your own teammates? Your heavenly sanctuary? Your one haven in all the disgusting going abouts of three teenage boys and a cheery girly-girly mutant girl who likes to shop…?" When she shot him an ominous look, he couldn't resist and said, "Or did you bring me here to seduce the information out of me? Huh. Kinky."

Raven only glowered at him. "Get your mind out of the gutter," she growled before stalking across the room. Flipping on the light switch, she swirled around, cloak and all. "Okay, Kid Flash. _Talk_."

"What, and spill the beans?" He took a moment to think, then smirked to say, "_Naaah_." before he went for the door.

But Raven had been expecting that. Flicking her wrist, her wardrobe slammed into the open space right where Kid Flash was about to zip through. Jerking away back from the lunging wardrobe, he managed to dodge but ended up sprawled on the floor.

Narrowing her eyes, Raven calmly walked over to the groaning boy.

"Owww…"

"You should have known better," she said flatly.

"Y-yeah…guess I should've."

After a pause, Raven smoothly swept aside her cloak and sat down beside him. Waiting patiently for him to sit up, she arched a cool, delicate brow. "Now will you tell me what I want to know?"

Kid Flash fell quiet, eyes swerved away from hers. Staring out at her windows, his shoulders slumped with a sigh. Her eyes widened when she saw just how clear the dejection was in his posture, his expression. And her empathy…

Raven flinched. She had never seen Kid Flash this despondent. And she knew no one else had, too. But to be the one to be shown such vulnerability…what was Kid Flash playing at?

"Have you ever been in love?" he said suddenly without turning to ask.

She stilled. He continued on, heedless to her chilly vibes.

"Blinded, hopeless love…the kind you want to drown in and never escape from. You know the feeling, Raven?"

A familiar thud, that heady rush of emotion…things she'd once associated with _him_, things she'd been drowning in for more. In memory they had come to her now: _Malchior…Malchior…Malchior_…

"No," she intoned. "I don't."

_Liarliarliar…_

Grimacing, she admitted quietly, "But I did. Once."

"If you're in love with the wrong sort of person, what do you do about it?"

The light being as dim as it was, Kid Flash never saw her swallow. Slowly. "When you're in love," she fumbled for words, "_if_ you're in love…there's not much you can do but hold on and hope it goes on forever. Even when you know you shouldn't, you still do, and that's what frustrates you. You want it to keep going even when you know it has to stop…"

She stopped, surprised at how much she revealed. Sneaking a glance at him, she was taken aback at how fiercely he was glaring at her carpet. Even in the dark, it seemed to illuminate his face into an expression of such strain.

"But what happens if you know the feelings aren't reciprocated?" he persisted.

"Then…you'll have to just grin and bear it, I guess."

Kid Flash finally turned towards her.

"Is that what you did, Raven?" He smiled bitterly. "Grin and bear it? Even when everyday your heart's being ripped out and then flung back into your face? Was it a breeze for you? Because I'm not feeling the breeze."

Sudden tension seizing her shoulders like a squeezing grip, his eyes, so unguarded—

"Melodramatic, much?" she managed, stiffly, but her face was not unkind.

Amused by her poor shot at humor, he smiled, easing the tension between them. "Let's just say she brings out the…_depth_ in me."

"Depth…I like that."

Kid Flash only shrugged, but his smile grew a little broader. "Thanks."

"I didn't do anything."

"That's not true and you know it."

His words were sincere, his expression warm, and Raven found herself smiling, too._ I've been doing a lot of that recently_, she thought.

"…You're welcome." She paused. "That doesn't mean that I've forgotten why I've brought you here though."

Kid Flash quirked a smile. "I had a feeling you wouldn't," he agreed amiably. Leaning back against her bed frame, he folded his hands behind his head. "So, what did you want to know?"

"You're in love with Jinx."

He blinked. Twice. "Yup." Rolling his eyes, he added, in a drawl, "Love her to death, actually, you can say."

Raven's jaw nearly dropped open. She didn't think he'd actually _admit_ it. Not so quickly and easily, at any rate; usually, she had to pull info from him like teeth. "You don't need to be so frank about it."

"And why not?" he snapped, eyes flaring in indignation. "So what if she's a villain? So what if she's not 'good?' I know at heart she can change!"

"So that's what you wanted to be so hush-hush about," she mused softly. "No need for the dramatics, but its sweet. Really."

With widened eyes, he peered at her intently for any hint of her sarcastic bent. "You're not going to hound me for that? Give me a good guy speech about never to fraternize with the enemy and all that jazz?"

"Why, do you want me to?" she shot back mildly. A smirk made its way across Raven's face. "Because there are _a lot_ of things I could say about your little romance, but I choose to refrain and instead be supportive."

"Not that I care if you'll tell the others, but will you?"

She gave a noncommittal noise. "No. But in exchange I want info, else words might…slip."

Kid Flash arched a brow. "Well, well…_blackmail_, is it? Didn't I just say I didn't care? All right, then, what do you want to know?"

"The others may have forgotten, but I certainly haven't."

"Oh, spare me the suspense. Go on and tell."

She leaned in. "You know what the Hive Five are up to."

"I do?"

"Are you protecting Jinx? Is that why you didn't tell us before?"

"I'm hurt, Raven," he said easily. "Questioning my loyalties now? Interrogation and mistrust…what's next, a declaration of foul play? Don't you trust me, Raven?" But she saw that his voice had been too defensive to be casual.

"When you were captured by Gizmo, he mentioned that you were acting as a spy for us. At least, that's what I'm assuming…but we both know you were doing no such thing." Her gaze bore into his own. "Not only that, but you also know the reason why the Hive Five are so active nowadays. Don't you."

It was not a question; Raven's whiplash gaze caught every minute facial twitch of his, however hard he tried at appearing stoic and blank. It didn't work.

"I was only captured because I'd underestimated their desperation," he broke finally, exasperated.

"Desperation? I never said anything about them being _desperate_," she remarked lightly.

Kid Flash winced. "Has anyone told you you're ruthless sometimes?"

"And has anyone told you you're as transparent as glass?"

"_Ouch_. Touché."

Satisfied, Raven leaned back, using her hands as support behind her. She looked perfectly relaxed. She had control of the conversation now, and they both knew it; she _would_ find out what Kid Flash was hiding from her.

Raven was pretty sure it was loyalty to Jinx was the reason why he wasn't talking. She had to get him to slipup in her impromptu interrogation in order to get him to fess up. It was obvious they were going to keep running around in circles otherwise. She wasn't in the mood for games.

"So…" she said. "Are you going to talk now?" Brilliant strategy, Raven. Absolutely smashing—So she was shocked when it worked.

His grin was weak. "Isn't that what we've been doing this whole time?"

A vein throbbed on her forehead. "You know…you're impossible."

"Why, thank you," he beamed, having an abrupt attitude flip of 180 degrees.

Raven sighed. "You're not going to tell me, are you?"

"What, my deepest most darkest secret not good enough for you?" but his voice was borderline sarcastic.

Raven smirked, pleased to have gotten such a response; she was getting to him, after all. "Did you think that shock would bowl me over and make me forget everything else I wanted to know? Who was the one who blabbed all about the wonders of Jinx some months before?"

"I know, I know….Dang, nothing gets past you," his easy grin was disarming, "but you can't blame a guy for trying."

Amused by his array of grins, she drawled, "Work on your flattery, West, and maybe I'll let you off the hook next time."

They'd known each other for a while now and out of all the Titans, Kid Flash could easily say Raven was the closest. It was why she was the only one who knew his real name.

Not to mention she was also the one to ask him to patrol Jump City few months ago when she and her team left to go after the Brotherhood of Evil. He had owed her a favor, so he agreed.

Plus, if it hadn't been for Raven…Kid Flash would have never met Jinx of the Hive Five.

She knew that, too. And he knew that she knew that. Somehow, it made it easier for him to admit so readily his feelings for the girl in front of the dark-haired Titan.

Talk about strange. But it was because of that connection that he bothered to tell her stuff. "You're right. I know _some_ things, enough to connect the dots anyway. But it's not exactly like I'm _privy_ to their plans and all—what, since they've upped their security, too." He actually looked a little miffed. "Before, breaking in was a joke, but now I actually have to _work_!"

And he sounded so peeved, too.

"Are you able to sneak in anyways?" she asked dryly, but a small chuckle betrayed her amusement.

And if that cocky grin of his was anything to go by, she would say, yes, yes, he did. She was right. "_Nothing_ can stop the fastest boy alive from seeing the girl of his dreams," he declared.

"You know how extremely corny that sounded, right?" Raven's brows were furrowed and she looked almost disturbed. "Especially coming from you?"

He shrugged, grinning. "I've always wanted to say that, though. Now I've got reason to."

"Oh, joy. Taboo love. That's always fun."

Kid Flash childishly stuck a tongue out at her.

"Wait…hold on, you're distracting me! Oh, you little _twerp_…"

He barked out a laugh. "'Twerp,' huh? Never thought I'd ever hear you say that. Seems kinda undignified for the great mysterious Raven." Towards the end, he'd even wiggled his fingers for extra effect.

She hid a smile.

"You're irritating. But not only that, you managed to lead the conversation away from the topic. You're good, I'll give you that," she admitted grudgingly, "but don't think I'd have been tricked for long. If you're that desperate to not reveal what you know, you can just tell me. You don't have to resort to trickery at every point imaginable."

And just like that, the good mood abruptly vanished. Another 180 flip, but onto the other end of the spectrum now.

Kid Flash scowled. "I'll tell eventually, Raven."

"But why can't you just tell me now?" she sighed.

"…" Kid Flash glared at her.

"…" She glared right back.

"…Fine."

_**----**_

Legs huddled close to her body and enveloped by her arms, Jinx shuddered.

She felt cold, and her body was starting to feel those pinpricks of numbness.

She couldn't believe—she didn't _want_ to believe it, but there she was, huddled and wasting away in an alleyway. A dingy, dirty, filthy alleyway. Again, she entertained the thought of going back. Thoughts of a warm, soft bed, and deliciously wicked hot chocolate flitted about her mind.

She clutched her sweater even tighter.

Her body demanded comfort, but her mind demanded release. She wanted _out_ of that prison. Kid Flash was right, they were cooping her up back there. She was going crazy, and it wasn't just cabin fever, but she really was going crazy, and she—just—couldn't—take it anymore!

_But it was only because they were worried about me_.

Jinx couldn't stop the rebellious thoughts that arose in challenge to those words. She had felt confined, imprisoned, locked up. Day in day out she was kept in a bed! It wasn't as if she was going to die any second. It was like…like she was a _thing _to them. An object. A…lab rat?

No! No, that wasn't what they were trying to do. That wasn't like them, they wouldn't—

Then what were they doing?

Lips trembling, she sniffled, burrowing her head in her arms. She wanted the Hive Five back. Her team. Not those…people!

Oh, she could practically taste the irony. How long had she wanted the others to shape up? To become as cruel and evil as the Brotherhood of Evil? People she had looked up to? How long had she been frustrated with her friends, putting them down again and again? Had they finally listened to her nagging and changed? But there's no way that could have happened! Just because of a little nagging…

No. Not just a little. Ever since she became the leader, they've never listened to her. And…and now that she wasn't even considered fit enough to walk over stupid thresholds, who was leading the team now? Who was taking her place? Did they want her out of the way? Was she wrong to think—was it…was it _her_ who was actually the one holding them back, and not the other way around?

How many nights of sleep had she lost, frustrated to no end that her team was so childish? Ridiculous compared to the image she wanted of the ideal Hive Five. And it was only after she got sick that they started to "shape up"…some shaping up. They're doing a frigging great job taking care of themselves!

This was pathetic…why was she wallowing! She escaped, didn't she? Let them do whatever the hell they wanted. She was in the way…just a waste of space and resource at headquarters! What else was there to do but run away? What was she going to do, lay there and get fat and lazy?

That wasn't even an issue anymore…God, why was she thinking of her figure at a time like this?! She had more important things to think about!

She tried to ignore the way she curled up on the ground, so cold her body was getting that funny, twitchy, numb feeling. Or maybe that was the concrete beneath her…was this where she was going to sleep?

Treacherously, a warm bed and wicked hot chocolate came to mind again, and she was disgusted that she was actually yearning for that prison, but there was something stronger compelling her to go.

Right now…right now what were they doing? Would they be watching a movie, or…or playing video games…? Mammoth would be digging through their fridge, surely. And it was certain that Gizmo would be tinkering away in his little corner…why wouldn't he be? Kyd Wykkyd…Jinx knew he liked quiet, dark places. Sometimes, they'd even sit together in the dark of her room and stay together. Even Jinx preferred silence to her teammates' antics sometimes.

But no one knew that Kyd Wykkyd was actually hurting for company, and nobody knew that it was only with Kyd that she felt most at ease. What would he do without her? Would anyone even care? And See-More…what would he be doing now that he didn't have anyone to test his headgear with…would Gizmo help him out? That kid was so self-absorbed, but he was _her _self-absorbed kid bro. They all were, weren't they…? Brothers. She wasn't only someone who they thought was bossy and mean and troublesome, r-right?

It was all wrong. It shouldn't have been like this! Where were the friends she knew from the Academy? The people who joked around and laughed with her? Did they even exist anymore? Were they even there?

It was starting to rain. She shared the sky's sentiments perfectly. Unlike how dingy, little streets were able to get cleansed, though, she felt even more wretched and sticky and dirty from her back alleyway adventure. The excess water was not helping.

But she'd given up. Her, stubborn ass girl that she was who had once tried relentlessly to capture Kid Flash…where had that girl gone?

That girl was somewhere off who _knew _where. And then there was some pathetic_good guy_ wannabe in her place. Despicable. And reformed! All she had to remember her by were bittersweet memories of better days where a conscience was the last thing on her mind. When there was no question to where her loyalties lied and where life was routinely simple.

Have fun. Steal some stuff. Piss off the good guys. It was all routine. It was all routine!

Twice Kid Flash had changed something in her. The first time he zipped in and out of her life he'd played with her head a little bit and then—wham—suddenly, she'd begun to doubt everything about herself. From that moment on she began to question what was right and what was wrong, and was evil really all that it was cracked up to be?

Back then it had all been so simple. Even with her mind being in constant conflict because of her newfound _heroine_ morals and between what she'd known all her life, it had been so simple. It was easy, even then, to hate Kid Flash simply because of the mess he'd left her life in. But now…

Now she didn't know what to think of him.

The first time they met again after she'd contracted this damnable illness, he challenged her. Point blank, bluntly, and boldly in the only way he knew how.

He had told her her logic was twisted as hell, that her mentality was screwed up.

And yes, in those exact words. She was thrown off at the time because it was the first time she heard him speak so…frankly. The guy was always oblivious and not just a little blunt, but he'd never point-blank called her a mess before. It was a little jarring.

Another thing that had always grated her nerves was his _politeness_. Villains who were, well…polite to the extent he was was viewed as wimpy. Weak. His stupid attitude and outlook on life just irritated the hell out of her—totally alien to her mindset. Totally alien to her. And why was he so cheery all the time? Where did he get that energy?! Always egging her on, always stalking her, always leaving her dying flowers—_roses_, no less—and then making her doubt everything she knew to be true. That kid…!

She just—she just wanted to wring his neck at times.

And she still wanted to! Only…for much darker reasons than she had before. She didn't whether to thank him or kill him. She opted for the latter because the first was too strange to imagine.

He had given her the will to keep going on, damning as it sounded. He was the one obstacle that stopped her from not having to witness the Hive Five's complete and utter fall. It wasn't exactly an event she was looking forward to, either, but she couldn't understand why she went along and _appeased _him. For so long she entertained thoughts of running away, betraying her teammates for a nice, reality-blinding prison cell…

_Coward_, he'd called her._ You want to take the coward's way out instead of staying to fight for your team? Do you __**want**__ them to lose what's left of their humanity?_

In terse tones, she'd told him he was being overly dramatic. It was his next words that stopped her cold.

_What do you think is keeping the Hive Five from just becoming another Brotherhood of Evil?_

It couldn't have been…her?

And that's what scared her. The implications, if it were true, were…

They were afraid of her dying. Were they really that fixated on her? Were they crazy or, or something? Why would they do that?

But that couldn't be right, right? Did they _honestly_ expect her to drop dead any second now? Did they think she wasn't capable of taking care of herself? What, was she suicidal, all of the sudden? Masochistic? It wasn't as if she particularly liked being in a prison cell, but her teammates were driving her crazy. Anyone would want to fling themselves off of a cliff after the way they tried to control her life, right? At least when you were dead they didn't subject you to crap food and jeering inmates.

Jinx flinched.

_You want to take the coward's way out instead of staying to fight for your team?_

S-so what?! She wanted to run away so she did. Big deal! But…that would've looked _awful _in his eyes. Was that why he kept asking all those weird questions? And was with all those stupid dopey looks, too?

She couldn't help it. She groaned.

Her head hurt. Not to mention, she didn't even know half the stuff she was thinking. She was rambling. And in her own head, no less! Like one of those crazy monologues or soliloquies Headmaster Blood was so fond of spouting.

She didn't want to admit it—not even to herself—but she was actually bewildered, and not a little scared.

If that was the case, then when did the Hive Five suddenly grow so…protective of her? Her disease was the catalyst for their abrupt change, was that it? All because of her. No way! But—?

She knew this already. They didn't change _because_ of her. They changed _for _her.

Did that make any sense? Yet somehow, strangely, in the only way villainy twisted illogical logic could be, it did.

And when before everyone was so very carefree that was because there was no worry, no true harm that had befallen them. To each and every one of them, life was just a grand game. Villain was just a label—a self-proclaimed job that, somehow, they didn't take very seriously. Until now. Until one of their own was on the verge of dying, until that person needed some sort of anchorage—something of a wall to lean on. Someone to tell them, _It's okay to be weak, let us handle everything from now on_.

As if she needed some quirky group of adolescent, teenage boys to take care of her. That was not what she wanted from them. She hated being coddled. They knew that!

Still, had it not been for Kid Flash or that problematic, pesky consciousness, and had it not been all the melodramatic doubt within herself, they would've been the dream team she would've died for. Well, quite ironically, she got her wish.

She was _dying_.

Cold, sterile, hostile, and absolutely ruthless…the only reason they were like this was because they were searching for some magical cure for her. Putting aside everything else but to save their leader, they locked away their feelings and brought out their anger…their fury?

At themselves, at the world, and at the unfairness of it all. It was the most rebellious way they knew how to react. It was stupid. It was ridiculous. It was so…so _them_.

Endlessly, relentlessly, desperately going out each night only to come back spent, disappointed, and desolate. To them, coming back home empty handed, it wasn't just a any other day, it was another day gone, another failure passed.

Behavior that frightened her, how cold they looked, how suddenly _adult _everyone seemed. That desperation that frightened her, it suddenly all came to her now. First slowly trickling in, like a fresh spring in the midst of winter, and then down pouring like a frickin' _tidal wave_.

She understood.

_All they're doing is keeping you cooped up in here…_

_Don't you ever wonder why you don't see them more nowadays?_

_Coward…_

_Do you __**want**__ them to lose what's left of their humanity?_

_Don't worry about it…I just ran into one of your buddies recently…not a particularly forgiving lot, are they?_

_Jinx…__**awake**__…can't…hand you…over…to team…when…like __**this**__…_

_What do you think is keeping the Hive Five from just becoming another Brotherhood of Evil?_

_What do you think…Jinx?_

"It's…me. I'm keeping them from crossing that line," she murmured. She snorted. "Well, isn't that just rich? Even when I'm near dead and crippled they don't make the big, bad decisions without me."

Jinx ignored the pang she felt when she said those words, and she hastened to put it out of her mind. As long as she was aloof about this, as long as she didn't do anything _stupid_…she'd be okay. She had to be. Knowing the effort a team was making for her wasn't going to make her wobbly kneed or anything like that!

She was not going to collapse or…or cry about this…no, she wouldn't! She couldn't—! She was _Jinx._ She was their leader!

And they were willing to risk everything for her. They would take nothing in return…but their leader. Their old leader. The Jinx who'd kept the six of them all together like some sort of demented glue.

She made the decisions. She made the orders. And she was, without a doubt, the leader of the Hive Five in everyone's mind. They followed her without question and were insanely loyal towards her and one another. That took precedence over personal gain. Because they were…_family_?

Even when the choice became clear that Jinx couldn't lead them anymore, they didn't opt for a new leader. They didn't dump her or discarded her like trash. Even after that first week. That—that terrible first week of her illness…

They stopped everything in order to find a cure. This stupid, impossible cure. They stopped their habits, they stopped their joking, they stopped their laughter, they stopped their routines, they stopped their playing—they stopped everything for her.

_Am I that important?_ Jinx thought numbly. When had that unspoken rule changed around them? They all had taken their jobs seriously yet even then, even when being hounded by the Titans one day and getting flung into jail the next, they managed to keep up an air of lightheartedness.

There was something carefree about their attitudes before that had frustrated Jinx to no end. She was pretty sure that it wasn't exactly how serious hardcore villains were supposed to act. Pillow cushion forts one day and squabbles over the T.V. remote the next? Who were they kidding? They weren't villains—they were just small-time crooks! Children playing at villains in an adult world.

Thoughts like these tormented Jinx far into the night, causing for some very stressed sleep and pull-hair worthy scenarios.

But now, she could only berate herself for being so stupid. Without all that _playing around _and carefree get togethers…what was left for them? The apathy she saw in everyone was suffocating.

Lightheartedness?_ Give me a break._

The Hive Five were well on their way to becoming what she'd once naively aspired them to: carbon copies of the Brotherhood of Evil. Well…except for the whole 'kill the kiddy superhero' gig, the Hive Five had a completely different motive…

Her.

What was so special about her anyway? Again that thought came swirling around in her head, taunting her with every word. What could possibly be so important about her that it made a perfectly good team become so_ screwed up_? But if she went about this line of thought it would always come back to _him._

Kid Flash, of course. Who else?

The miserable little boy who had delusions of grandeur where Jinx somehow left her team, her family, her friends, her aspirations, everything she'd know her entire life in favor of some stupid good guy lifestyle…

But, know what? It worked, damn it. It worked.

But she was exaggerating a bit. She knew that after this whole ordeal was…over, she couldn't think of actually leaving the Hive Five. Not after the intense loyalty they'd showed her. How could she just up and leave all that? But their efforts were wasted, anyway. It was no good. She probably wouldn't live to see the next decade.

Jinx was already living on borrowed time, as it were.

Yet there was something about Kid Flash…the way he acted, pompous ass he was, he made it sound like, well…being a superhero was all that. He made it seem all so _grand. _But that goal was unattainable, higher up on a pedestal than her adoration for Madam Rouge ever was, and that was a damn high pedestal.

So how come she couldn't completely crush the little hope that somehow this could actually work out? That it wouldn't be some harebrained scheme that Kid Flash cooked up to make her even more miserable than she already was?

Was being a good guy all that he cracked it up to be?

But by the time she'd find the guts to actually take that step forward, she'd probably keel over and die. Or she'd be found by the Hive Five. And _then_ she'd keel over and die. Unless they did save her somehow. But hadn't she already established the fact that their mission was impossible?

Jinx was feeling a little hysterical, but, hey, wasn't a girl entitled to a little hysteria here and there? Especially one who had to go through all this…this—well, there wasn't a word for it, exactly. No word could actually convey exactly what the hell she was going through. None at all. Her situation defied sound logic, twisted logic, or logical…logic.

She really was going insane, wasn't she? How long had she been standing there? Just staring blankly at the third brick in the fifth row from the bottom was bound to be some cause for alarm. Why was she staring so intensely at a brick of all things and how long had she been thinking?_Why_ was she even thinking?

And did she have to ramble in her own head, anyways? How the hell had she ended up here? Oh right, _Kid Flash_. And how oppressive being under house arrest she just get some god-awful frickin' peace around here for once?

Jinx couldn't think straight. Not with this damnable headache. Not when she felt so wretchedly cold and wet and—and miserable. But she also felt so hot and her movements were more sluggish than a sleepy Mammoth in the mornings and…and…

Before she knew it, she was walking out of the alleyway. It was then that two things happened.

Well, all right, three things.

First, she collapsed. Would've been a dead faint if she hadn't suddenly felt like her blood was streaming through her veins a hundred miles per second—and she was _hot_, damn it!

And she was also dimly aware of the looks she was getting. Probably, she snorted, they thought she was some pitiful, homeless girl who was about to get what was coming to her.

And they were right. Partially.

The second and third thing happened consecutively.

A yellow flash happened in her peripheral vision. Mammoth was coming around the corner.

And they both saw the same person at the same time. Three guess to who that was, but the first two don't count!

God, she felt like giggling.

And thus the seriousness of the situation didn't really sink in until there were screaming and running, the sky was blurred and blended in with the gray tones of the buildings…but by then, she was too out of it to care.

Even when she was being hoisted up into unfamiliar arms that felt strangely nice and warm and she didn't really mind it that much even when she kept being jostled at the same time as moving somewhere really, really _fast_.

She looked up and froze.

_Kid Flash_…?

* * *

Ugh, I'm sorry I had you guys go through another Jinx monologue. It's necessary, but it feels like a pain when I look at that second scene and realize it isn't really a scene at all. Hopefully it went by quickly and smoothly, but I need background info out there in the beginning of the fic to set up the premise. And yes, I know Kid Flash/Raven friendship isn't canon to the show, but I'm taking liberties. Hey, if the comic Flash was manipulated to think he was in love with Raven, who am I to say no to using a waterdown version of their relationship here in the form of a friendship?

Next up is a bit of Mammoth, revelations about our resident Kyd Wykkyd (remember him?), and a confrontational scene between Kyd, Kid Flash, and Jinx all under the cozy shade of the T-Tower. Yeah, I don't know how they ended up there either.


	4. dstv iv

I think most italic usages are childish. I started this fic ages ago and had only started to edit it before submission. Back then, I used italics excessively, but keep in mind that Gizmo's italics were purposeful. And poor Mammoth finally gets some screen time. I'm also trying to figure out if I can handle Billy Numerous's dialogue again to merit his own scene or if I should start focusing on actually bringing Beast Boy into the fic. Gah.

And yay! Kyd Wykkyd's now not just the villain who cops a feel of Raven somewhere in the final episodes of 63-64! And no, I'm not joking: What else would you call it when he goes off and does a twisty, swirly, bendy transportional thingy around her? It was hot. Really.

* * *

"Damn it, damn it, _damn it_!"

Mammoth hardly ever heard Gizmo curse. Actually, he'd never heard him curse at all until now. Jinx never did like it when Gizmo used bad words—_really _bad ones. Was this a _really _bad word, too? Staring down at his communicator, he could only blink in surprise.

If Gizmo had hair, he wondered idly, would he have been pulling it by now?

His brows furrowed. That…couldn't be good. Was that why Gizmo was bald? He was always so mad all the time. Maybe he pulled out all his hair before he joined the Academy?

While Mammoth mused on this, Gizmo was ranting in the background.

"…how could you let him escape! _Again_! And why did you let that crud munchin' _idiot_ take Jinx! You were supposed to be on the look out for her! What were you _doing_, you _pea brain_! Don't you know that Jinx could get those weird _hallucinations_ again! What'll happen if Kid Flash takes advantage of that, you _dummy_! He's probably taking her to the stupid _Teen Titans_ or something! _Don't you get it!_"

Mammoth only looked at the screen blankly. Gizmo gave a loud, frustrated screech. "Look—just get back to HQ, okay? Okay! Can you understand that, you dimwitted idiot? Get back here because Jinx is in trouble!" The screen gave a blip and went dead.

But Mammoth continued to stand there, staring down at the device, even when the connection was long severed. It was subtle, actually; the slight twitch of his hands, the sudden tenseness of his shoulders, and the very slow narrowing of the eyes.

He wasn't completely stupid. He knew what situations were worth concentrating on and what wasn't. More often than not, it was the latter.

After all, they weren't seriously aspiring to become some sort of Brotherhood of Evil wannabes, right? It wasn't like they were seriously planning to…kill people everyday. Good guys were different. They were bad.

He, of course, noticed the subtle change in his team. It was hard not to. After Jinx became sick, fun and games were over. Instead, every morning he'd face his unhappy friends and come back at night only to see their lost expressions.

If there was one thing Mammoth got out of that yelling spree, it was that Jinx was in major, major _trouble_. The kind of trouble that came with _Kid Flash_, _Teen Titans_, _hallucinations_, and _Jinx_. Put them all together and you got something real nasty…

All in all, it was very subtle. The changes that went over Mammoth at that moment. Contrary to belief, he wasn't some stupid, giant, hulking dumbnut.

Well, he _was_. But that was beside the point.

The point was that if there was one thing Mammoth had it was instincts. Instincts that now screamed for him to shape up, take charge, and get his friend back, no matter the cost.

And nothing…not some spandex wearing, wimpy little kid, _nothing_ was going to stop him.

Mammoth stalked off, nearly crushing his communicator, which was still held tightly in his hands. His expression was totally and completely blank, save for the occasional eye twitches. But it was a hard, cold set of his features that stopped people dead, one that made them instantly wary of him…

And when they looked up into his eyes, they realized why.

They were orbs of thinly veiled fury.

_**-- One day ago…**_

There was a time for playfulness and there was a time for seriousness. The situation now clearly screamed for the latter.

Kyd Wykkyd dearly hated these moments.

Not that anyone knew that. For he was a villain of few words—literally. Actually, not even then. Rather than being mute, as some would surmise, he just didn't talk. Period.

Talking was a waste, he found, of breath, of energy, of time, of effort…the list went on and on. Why talk when a simple movement would suffice? Why waste words in crucial moments when movement would do just as well? In fact, better?

Movement was so much simpler than wasting words. So much more efficient. No one could ever mistake the intentions behind a motion. Action was best, and sitting around day in day out wasn't going to help anyone. It was a waste, those precious seconds, and they needed all they could get. And Kyd Wykkyd, if anything, aimed towards the most efficient and effective. Every move the dark-caped boy made was purposeful and measured for maximum result yield.

The others found him odd for it. But then they were used to him.

Not like the Titans, or…the occasional comrade or two outside of his team. Even Kid Flash, in his own way, remarked on this strange quirk of his.

How they burned to know more about him. Well, superheroes, not so much. In the beginning, he could tell: his team's curiosity was one that he could sense even from the next room over. It was that obvious.

"Why doesn't he talk?" they'd ask one another. "And what's with his powers?"

These two aspects of him, in the beginning, set him easily apart from the others. It threw a shadow of mystique around him…an air of mysteriousness that no one could quite explain…

And, in the beginning, he was also very, very reluctant to use his powers. Only the barest snatches would allies be able to see before his shadows retreated back into the darkness, back from whence they came. He didn't like shadows, or the dark, but his team assumed as much when they saw the dire state of his room and the color scheme he wore day to day. He only liked the quiet associated with the dark. That was the dark he liked, the kind where there was nothing around but you. Nothing distracting, nothing hurtful, simply only a person and his own thoughts.

Yes…in the beginning they didn't quite know what to think of him. But they knew enough to be afraid. And they were. Very much so. He was just too strange, as were they all, but it was just that his presence tended to raise more…concerns than most others.

Oh, yes. He'd flaunted his powers carelessly because his anger got the best of him. A fellow classmate was knocked unconscious for a week because of him. Indeed, back then he was a very angry individual.

This action had actually garnered attention for himself, attention he didn't need nor want. But that was the pains of being a villain at times. The best from the worst were plucked at the first signs of potential and then molded into mindless pawns to be bought and sold.

To many others, this bit of logic would've been illogical. At best, they'd probably scratch their heads and wonder, in vain, what he was trying to get at when he was in a philosophical mood.

Could you really blame him for being so bitter? First thrust into villainy and then personally trained when he'd lost control of his powers, his life then wasn't exactly a cup o' tea.

With acceptance came fear. And with fear came bitterness.

His team was no exception. That was the status quo until **she** confronted him.

Yes…she was an odd one. Loud and boisterous—compared to him, at least—forward and bold, Jinx was a lot of things. But a coward, she was not.

After all, either a villain had to be really stupid to approach someone of his reputation or just really, really oblivious. He was rather inclined to believe the latter, though it wasn't much better than the first.

But, he found, in the end, Jinx was none of the two. Obviously, he couldn't peg her as either one of the two if she had the cunning, strength, and power to personally lead a team, much less one of their mentality. Childish as any of the others' antics, that mentality came in the form of immature teenagehood, to which Kyd could only give her his sympathies; he could not imagine where she scrounged up her patience when she was not the most patient individual herself.

He readily would've admitted that was the first time he had ever actually been surprised. It was a rare occurrence when someone could actually surprise him in the way she did. Yet, she managed to do so. All in one rant.

Yes, their leader certainly did love her rants.

In her usual, typically insulting manner, she demanded to know why he kept 'sulking around and vamping out instead of joining them.' Yes, in those words exactly. An odd combination, but it was Jinx saying them, nevertheless, so he couldn't really blame her. In the beginning, to them anyway, she spoke shrilly, riled up quickly, and, above all, was prone to belittling her own teammates.

He did not have a high opinion of their leader in the beginning.

And so, Kyd Wykkyd considered being affronted by her careless wording, but decided it just wasn't worth the effort. He coolly ignored her. After all, it wasn't everyday one could eat in peace without the many frequent squabbles of the Hive Five at the kitchen table. And he'd been hungry that day, he remembered, and hadn't appreciated someone needling him to talk while he was trying to eat.

But when she actually _smacked_ him, and not with a bad luck bolt either, she caught his attention.

He was half way making a sandwich. _Why _he was making a sandwich at two a.m. in the morning was beyond him, but it was true: he was making a sandwich. Why she was even _upstairs_ at two a.m. in the morning was an even greater mystery than the last. Their leader was fond of her room, after all, especially when it became a sanctuary in a place filled with five teenage boys.

But it wasn't those insignificant details and whatnots that made him remember that bleary night. It was her tone, that posture, her voice…

Nobody quite knew what happened to break the ice between he and the rest of the team, but several hours later at breakfast, he _was_ unusually playful.

Playful being a relative term, of course.

Plus, Jinx wasn't actually scowling at them, for once. Rather, she was actively engaged in conversing with him of all people. Everything started from there.

Thus they became inseparable. Odd? Yes, he knew it was odd. But sometimes, things just start out odd.

But the situation now seemed downright surreal.

Staring down at her prone body, there was nothing he would've given up to see her smile once more.

Jinx rarely smiled nowadays. Even her ever-present scowl was absent in light of new events.

He didn't delusion himself into going off and dwell on those thoughts. He knew what conclusion he'd come up with: there were some things even _he_ couldn't do.

Transportational portals? Check.

One hit K.O.s? Sure.

But,_making the last several weeks disappear from memory_?

He was pretty sure that bordered on the edge of impossible. Oh, it was in reach, but only through crazy, insane, headache inducing circumstances even _he_ didn't want to get into. There were some things that humans just wouldn't understand. He had enough trouble thinking about them, as it were.

Monitoring her status, Kyd Wykkyd sighed. The situation definitely merited at least a _sigh_. So troublesome…

How had it all come to this?

"Some days…I just want it all to end."

He gave her a passive look before turning back to the vial he was fiddling with. In his peripheral vision, he could see that Jinx had a strange, pensive expression.

"You know I'm not one of those emo, weird goth types, so I don't have to explain to you what I mean, right?"

Indeed, she did not.

"People like me…" she paused. "_Girls_ like me, we don't wait for some stupid knight in shining armor to come and save us. Those types just turn us off." She said this quite matter-of-factly, and he decided to agree with her; what did he know of the matter, anyway?

Giving a noncommittal noise, he tilted his head, telling her with that simple action that he was listening. Snuggling deeper into the bed sheets, Jinx sighed and mumbled something; she hadn't looked at him once so far, but he knew she was watching him.

Creeping closer to her bed, he smoothly swept aside his cape as he seated himself. Startled, Jinx looked up.

Kyd Wykkyd only smiled at her enigmatically.

Jinx gave a hesitant smile back.

Accepting the syringe he'd conjured out of nowhere, she absently allowed the amber serum to be injected into her arm while biting her lower lip—a habit she'd picked up sometime. When he cleanly pulled out the needle, she winced, which caused him to frown.

When she remained silent, Kyd Wykkyd shrugged, pausing only when she slouched forward, a clear sign of dejection.

He wasn't surprised to see it, either. It was a sight that was quickly becoming old, and one he was most acquainted with. After all, who else saw her as frequently as he did?

But it was her next words that _did_ surprise him.

"You haven't spoken to me since that day," she muttered.

Kyd Wykkyd blinked. There was hardly a moment where he was taken aback. Cool, calm, and unruffled, that was him, all right. But it was true, he _was_ taken aback. Why would she bring it up now? He peered at her closely, wondering what day she spoke of. For someone who almost never talked, surely he would've remembered such a momentous event?

She gave a soft smile of remembrance. It gentled the normally fierce countenance associated with her. That _was_ associated with her. "Don't you remember?" At his quizzical expression, she added, "It was the day you loosened up, Wykkyd." She had a light, joking expression on her face as she said it, too.

He had to quirk a smile at that. Ah, he remembered now. _And so did she_. There was something oddly pleasing about that thought.

"But…is it so wrong to…to like someone because they're so _nice_?" Jinx was now practically buried underneath the covers, her voice was so muffled. Her slitted cat-like eyes seemed to glow as she peered over the sheets at her teammate. "Is it?"

Kyd Wykkyd was clearly at a loss to how to answer. His gaze was intense as he stared at her, waiting for her to go on, but she never did. Instead, Jinx looked away and stared up at the ceiling above her.

There was a raw, hungry expression on her face. An aching sort of longing that drew him to her. But he didn't dare. It was best to leave, he reasoned. And so he quietly stood and left the room.

When he returned next, Jinx was gone.

And for the first time in a long time, Kyd Wykkyd panicked.

_**-- Present time…**_

He should've known.

The hell was she thinking? Silly, silly Jinx…

He should've known.

But right now, all he wanted to do was throttle her.

"Let—_go_—of—_me_…!" Jinx demanded through gritted teeth.

But, for now, this did _quite_ nicely.

"Nope, can't do that," Kid Flash replied cheerfully, giving her an extra jostle through his arms, to which she shrieked.

"And why not?" Jinx screamed, childishly, he thought. His next words did nothing but infuriate her, though.

"Because I don't want you drowning on me, Jinx." His voice was full of good cheer.

"Drowning?" she shrilled in that _delightful_ voice of hers.

"Yup!" he laughed. "Look down below!"

She obliged. And then blanched.

"JUST WHAT THE HELL'S YOUR PROBLEM!" she screamed, flailing in his arms wildly. He only smiled at her—she looked so cute. "I don't care if I drown, damn it—just—_let me…go_!"

Kid Flash grinned. "As you wish."

"Kid Flash, you _jerk_! DON'T DROP ME IN THE WAT—!"

Too late. There was a splash and Kid Flash stood there, puffed up proud and pleased. Like a drowned cat, Jinx slowly rose from the waist high water, hissing at him with all her indignation.

He held out his hands in a hasty, placating gesture of peace, a habit he'd recently developed around her. "You did tell me to drop you," Kid Flash pointed out cheekily.

Jinx flung up her arms, as if to hex him, but then they dropped to her sides in a listless sort of way. He frowned, but she had already turned away. "Why did you bring me _here_?"

Expression easing a little in his confusion, Kid Flash blinked. "Bring you where?"

Rather than reacting angrily, as he was sure she would've done, Jinx waved vaguely towards the direction in which he stood.

Looking over his shoulder to see what she meant, Kid Flash looked blankly at the T-shaped tower standing some distance away from them.

What _were_ they doing here?

He'd just let his feet do the running. And they had led them here.

Hm…_awkward_.

Wiping the frown off his face, Kid Flash smiled brightly at her; she stubbornly glared away. "Well…they do say that the Titans have the best facilities there are on this side of Jump City," he said lightly.

Jinx bristled and, in one abrupt movement, flung a pointed finger at him. She stalked forward and jabbed his chest with all every word she said. "I don't need their help—much less yours!" Through gritted teeth she bit out, "I just…want…to…go…home!"

"Then why did you run away?" Kid Flash shot back, challenge in his eyes.

Jinx gaped at him, and then snarled, "I don't see how _that's_ any of your business, Kid Flash—"

"Sure it is. It's my business if you're about to die!"

Stunned silence. Kid Flash looked at a loss to what to do next, but stopped; her reaction was a little bit too dramatic for his tastes.

Her breathing had become erratic, her chest heaving with almost painful effort, and her wide eyes gave her the vulnerable look of a little child, lost.

He was about to speak when he clamped his mouth shut.

He'd already said too much.

"They're right behind me, aren't they?" His voice was oddly flat.

"No," Jinx breathed, trembling. "Just…it's just that Kyd Wykkyd's right behind you."

"Well…hell," was all Kid Flash managed to get out before he was forced to zip away from a snarling Kyd Wykkyd, who was not pleased. But he took it all into stride, quickly teleporting again to intercept Kid Flash whenever the ridiculously fast boy paused in his running. From the look on Kid Flash's face, it seemed he was quite unwilling to fight back, choosing instead to dodge.

But Kyd Wykkyd had no such restraints. And that was what scared her.

"Stop it…" Jinx's voice shook with emotion. "Stop it, stop it, _stop it_!" Jinx took a step forward and outstretched her arm with one jerky motion. She couldn't stop shaking and she couldn't stop how suddenly, irrationally, terribly _afraid _she was.

She was sick of it all. All of it.

She couldn't take it anymore!

And before she knew it, Jinx was screaming, "IF YOU HURT HIM I WON'T HOLD BACK!"

A pause, and then Kyd Wykkyd very slowly turned towards her. Warily, Kid Flash eyed him, but when Kyd Wykkyd completely turned away from him, he knew that the fight was over.

And the hand that had been reaching for the base of his neck, the hand that Kid knew for sure was a deadly attack, slipped away. Kid Flash felt infinitely relieved; he heard what happened to Beast Boy, after all. "Hey, um—"

"You know what'll happen! Damn it, Kyd Wykkkyd, just—!" Jinx stopped, eyes wide with dilated pupils, and then starting coughing—and collapsed. Immediately, her teammate was at her side but Kid Flash had beaten him to it.

Panicking, he yelled, "Jinx! Jinx, what's wrong—" Suddenly shoved to the side, Kid Flash turned and snarled, "What are you doing…!"

Kyd Wykkyd silenced him with a hand. With only a second of hesitation, he placed a hand on her chest, but not without a little blush either. Kid Flash twitched and it was to his great relief when Jinx's eyes fluttered open.

Only to meet one really, _really _angry sorceress.

"_You_!" she shrieked, scrambling out of her teammate's arms. When Kyd Wykkyd refused to let her go, however, Jinx turned on him, eyes wild and feverish. "What are you doing, you _weirdo_,"—Kyd winced—"Kid Flash is right there—_get him_! You know we need him for Madam Rouge!"

Kid Flash raised one slow eyebrow, jaw slack open. Kyd Wykkyd grimly tapped her on the forehead, staunchly ignoring her screeches. Before she could even yelp in protest, Jinx was knocked into blissful sleep. He laid her gently on the sandy ground before swinging a fierce gaze on Kid Flash.

"Whoa—! Hold on, there, Kyd Wykkyd, I didn't do anything!"

Yet the cloaked villain continued to advance, stalking towards him as a hunter would its prey.

Kid Flash gulped and wondered whether he should be running by now—too late! Kyd Wykkyd, with a silent snarl, grabbed the front of his vibrantly colored suit and dragged him over to Jinx.

Eyes widening, remembering what Jinx had said before she got knocked out, Kid Flash didn't even put up a fight when he fumbled out, "What—what the heck was up with Jinx! _Madam Rouge_? I thought you guys were done with her?" His words ended in a plaintive whine—he was so confused!

Kyd Wykkyd glared at him and Kid Flash wisely stopped talking.

Unhanding him, Kyd knelt by his leader's prone body and monitored her condition with sharp, keen jerks of the hand, occasionally shooting Kid Flash scowls and sneers; Kid Flash figured that the guy was pissed at him.

Really pissed.

"Soo…" he mused, shifting on his feet, "what's going to happen now?"

By the eye roll he got, and the sheer annoyance behind it, Kid figured now was the time to make himself scarce. Or something. But the creepy guy in the cape seemed to want him around. And Jinx…

But fidgeting was all he could do, helpless as he watched Kyd Wykkyd do his thing.

_**--**_

As always, that impeccable smooth calm washed away any distress from his features, something he relied heavily on now.

He was alone, with Jinx laid out before him like a sacrificial body and the twitching spandex-clad boy to his left, but he was still alone. Irrevocably, utterly alone.

His suspicions had been confirmed. The disgusting cancer-like cells had reached the brain…and if Jinx's memory was already deteriorating…

That hospital had been their last hope. He knew that they'd find no other hospital anywhere else where an illegal trafficking of biologically hazardous and cancerous materials would be found; it was too late. The other option was to go across the country to Gotham, but no one had to clue to the specific location of the base there. It was hard enough to get into Gotham for _anything_, especially trade.

Gizmo was still refusing to hack into that eastern city's mainframe. The first time he tried, he'd stumbled out of his room and stared at his monitors, terrified. Kyd hadn't been as worried as perhaps he should have, but what could he do if Gizmo refused his help? If only he could see what Gizmo had seen...but as far as he knew, only See-More had been told.

Kyd had not, and he was the resident medic, the only one who had any experience with chemicals and biological manipulation. He was nowhere near being a doctor, though, and with Jinx he was feeling he was in way over his head, but...

If only that damned hospital hadn't gone up in flames! Their last lead. For weeks they'd been working, and their last lead turned out to be a dud! Useless, worthless, meaningless crap—isolation storage of weak medicines tampered and tainted beyond worth! Kyd was absolutely certain that they would hit paycheck with Jump Memorial Hospital. He was sure of it! What Billy found wasn't worth a thought, but surely, _surely _if they kept searching that decrepit, old laboratory...

Billy had screwed up. They all did. So much time wasted...

What were they going to do?

But the worst offense Kyd had done to his leader was not even that.

Body stilling, Kyd Wykkyd hid his shaking hands in the safety of his cloak where none could see his failure and spit on him for it.

_I was such a fool_.

"Hey…what's wrong? Why…why did you stop working on Jinx?"

Kyd looked into those earnest, worried eyes and stared.

_I should have never allowed you to come near her_.

Hands slowly clenched, and though Kid Flash couldn't actually see, Kyd Wykkyd was shaking on the inside.

_Then, you'd never have given us hope, Jinx and I._

* * *

Yeah, he knew about Kid Flash the whole time. He's cool like that. Some of Kyd Wykkyd's lines are chock full of implications, but it's all ambiguous so don't read too much into it. But I really like the "Elliot" portrayal of Kyd, too, which seems to be circulating around fandom. I think...there's a bit of that adorable/childish quality in my Kyd that I love so much like when the guy was randomly making a sandwich at 2am—a nod to "A Wykkyd Oneshot."

Otherwise, yeah, he's a bit of a serious kid and he was forced to grow up quickly in the way Raven had to grow up quickly for being known as some dark prophecy effigy. Also, the reason for Kyd Wykkyd's incredible maturity here is because he really cares for Jinx and he's the one directly watching out for her health. This gave him an incredible sense of responsibility, but it can also be a burden. If you caught it, Kyd said that Jinx's emo attitude was no longer unfamiliar to him. That poor guy.

But I finally gave insight on Jinx's mysterious illness! Finally, the plot! Huzzah. But the story won't pick up until Chapter 6 because filler's next and it focuses on the past. It's a bit of See-More, some old school Hive along with preSeason5 Jinx. And did you know Jinx's first idol wasn't Madame Rouge? Jinx has mentioned him only once in this fic.


	5. dstv v

I managed to do something I never thought I would have ever been able to do: make See-More act even cornier, sweeter, and dopier than he already is. The chapter is fairly important in setting up some background straight, but otherwise it's all firmly Jinx-centric. It's pretty much all filler and the story continues next chapter.

Warning: There are a lot of backward timeskips in this chapter. Consequently, creepy, old, hot-for-Cyborg Brother Blood is mentioned in unhealthy amounts. However, there's also Bumblebee. Commence the puns!

There's even a D.C. Comics cameo somewhere in here...

* * *

See-More didn't like the situation one bit. No, not at all.

When they were younger, Jinx left her hair down. He thought it was the weirdest thing he ever saw—pink hair. Pink like _bubblegum_ pink. He remembered all the teasing she got for it, how all the guys thought her pale, sickly skin was gross and that whenever she got really mad her eyes would become angry slits and she'd end up hurting everybody.

But they were all strange in one way or another. It was the…the freak genes of being metahuman. Weird stuff happened everyday and it wasn't like they could live like normal humans. They tried. God, how they tried.

He didn't hang out with anyone much. And since he wasn't exactly liked, what was the point of making friends? Of…of playing, and stuff.

Awkward and all gangly limbs, his one huge eye peered at anyone and anything curiously; he liked to observe things and just _feel._ There wasn't a lot of opportunity to do it either…it was all training, training, training there. It was boring. Routine.

It all changed when he joined the Hive Five. But that was a long time ago.

"What's all this for?" Jinx looked bored, maybe even morose; ever since Headmaster Blood unveiled a Teen Titan as his treacherous protegee, she'd been like this.

"I, uh…I thought you might be hungry."

Something gleamed in her eyes just then. "Did you snatch it from the cafeteria? I didn't know you could be so…sneaky."

Flustered, See-More said, "Well…uh, I can be. Y'know." He motioned his head. "I can _see _things with this."

Nodding absently, she twirled her sketchbook shut; he always wondered what she was drawing, but never had the nerve to ask. "Yes, that would come in handy, wouldn't it. Your eye."

He didn't know how to respond, so he didn't. A silence hung between them, painfully awkward for him, but totally fine with her. Her poise was lazy, almost cat-like, and he was fully aware that her lithe form was stretched out before him. She either didn't notice his blush or didn't care, but she gave no protest when he hastily sat on the bed across from her.

Finally, "You—you know, um…you don't have to pretend with me."

"Who's pretending?" Jinx's voice was a little bit too sharp, but See-More was relieved to see that she wasn't mad. Yet.

Gulping, he fumbled with his words. "I can see, yeah, s-so you can just be_ you _around me. In class, you're always…sad." Seeing her tense, he rushed on. "I mean, no one thinks bad about you or anything, but everyone thinks that—"

"You're not one to talk, See-More!"

"S-sorry."

"Yeah, well, you better be," she snapped, sitting up with a huff. "And what do you know, huh? You don't even know me. We're not friends. Until Headmaster Blood put us in the same class together, we've never even talked."

"Jinx, I—"

"We've never even talked before," she repeated, murmuring, "so how could you know me?"

"I," See-More stammered, "I didn't mean to make you mad, or, or hurt you or anything. You know that, right?"

"Hurt me?" She blinked, then tossed pink waves back defiantly. "What makes you think you hurt my _feelings_?"

Had he really said all that? At a loss to what to do, and utterly at a loss to how the conversation had turned out so badly, he stayed silent and stared at the floor.

He heard an impatient noise above him, but didn't look up. Suddenly, boots filled his vision, and tangled tresses surrounded his head. See-More felt dizzy—he could still smell the faintest traces of the perfume she wore that morning.

The villain glanced up and froze. "J-Jinx?"

"Are my shoes really that interesting?" A small smile, more a smirk than anything, graced her face. There was something hesitant in her expression though. "Or will you finally look at me?"

"I—I was…"

"You're the one who started the conversation and you haven't looked at my eyes. Not once. Are they so strange? Hideous…maybe? Well? Speak up!"

"I like them," See-More blurted. "I really do. They're not creepy at all and neither are you."

He was dismayed to see her frown. "Huh…well, if you're expecting my undying gratitude, don't. Gizmo told me as much yesterday."

"And there are others like him, like me! We don't hate you at all."

"And why should I believe you?" She leaned forwards, putting mere inches between their faces. See-More had no time to feel flustered—she was looking at him so seriously. "Why should I believe any of you? From my first day here, I've been shunned. Everyone sneers at me, and I'm not even one of the freakier of the bunches! _Whose_ fault is it that I can't fit in? My damn classmates', that's who!"

"You want…to fit in?"

She immediately stepped away and gave an airy hand gesture. "As if I still do. I gave all that up a long time ago. It's no longer worth anything to me. People's respect, I mean." Jinx paused, peering at his bowed head. "You better not be feeling sorry for me. I'm not some pathetic girl in need of comfort. We've still a year left at school. I can get through this."

"But wouldn't it be easier with a friend?" he tentatively asked.

"Who's offering? In case you haven't noticed, See-More, no one's willing to hurt their dumb little reputations to associate with _me_, the parish among villains!"

"I would."

"You…what?" She stared at him. "You're kidding, right? Why would you want to be friends with me? Aren't I nasty enough? Mean enough? _Damn it_, don't tell me I'm failing those stupid classes again…"

"Why would you say that?" He was worried; he didn't think she would appreciate him telling her about how awesome he thought she was just then. "Are…are you failing the Most Excellent Villain course?"

A sour look appeared on her face. "Why do you think I'm always getting into trouble after school? They think I'm a wimpy goody-goody two shoes who can't even pass Blood's easiest class." She paused. "And I am failing. Well, only a little…sorta."

Not even he could quite hide his disbelief. "But we're on the Attitude unit and it's the easiest one we've had so far! All the tests are practical, too, nothing like those crazy Take-Over-The-World exams…"

Jinx sighed. "When the nicest boy around says that, you know something's wrong."

"W-what do you mean?" 

His stutter had returned and Jinx gave a huff. "Great, even my compliments turn out twisted. Something _is_ wrong with me."

"You…" he flushed, "you were complimenting me?"

"Well…I guess H.I.V.E. guys wouldn't consider that a compliment. It's more of an insult, really, now that I think about it…"

"I wasn't insulted," he said quickly.

"Well…well good. I guess. Because I wasn't _trying _to, just to let you know."

"Y-yeah, of course not. But, uh…why do you think I'm nice?" See-More certainly didn't _think _he was nice…

He wished she hadn't answered. "You're talking to me," she replied simply. "And you snuck past that Mammoth guy to get to the fridge. And that kid is _huge_. So, yeah, sorry if you think it's lame if I think you're nice and everything, but don't get any ideas. I am _not_, by any means, attacking your delicate ego and nonexistent villainous reputation."

"I thought we were over this," he said warily.

She shrugged. "Just to make it clear. Sometimes, I have to repeat myself just to be heard, you know?"

"No, I _don't_ know," See-More suddenly snapped, then recoiled, looking almost horrified with himself.

But Jinx was wholly unaffected. Her expression was curious, instead. "Go on."

He struggled to explain. "You…you shouldn't have to think like that," he said, considerably meeker than before. "When you're talking, people should listen—"

"Why would they?" She looked genuinely confused. "All they do is talk over me. Isn't that what we're supposed to do? Chapter four and all?"

He gaped. "Jinx, you…"

She shrugged again. "So they don't act like that to you? Twenty-four-seven? I always thought it was a little weird."

"They're not supposed to act like that at all!"

"I thought we were villains?" she said wonderingly.

"But friends don't bully each other! E-especially not when we're all in this toge—" he cut himself off at her laughter.

"And _there's_ the crux of the problem, isn't it?" She may have been smiling, but it anything but kind. It was hard, and there was a glint in her eyes now. "I always knew people wouldn't want to practice lessons daily, especially not when it's all so _ridiculous_. I always thought it strange that I was always the victim in this. Guess I never got the memo, huh? I was never part of the team. I never will be."

"You said you wanted to know why I wanted to be friends with you, right?" See-More said abruptly.

"I hardly think it matters anymore."

"No! I think—I think you're incredible! You're unlike anyone else! You're so cool, the coolest person I've met, and that's what I like about you."

"What, my incredible uniqueness? Right. I get it. This is the part where you raise my self-esteem or something stupid like that. Well, I'm not _buying_ it. I don't need your pity."

"No. No, _listen_ to me, Jinx. You're not _listening!_ The reason I want to be your friend is because I want to!"

"No, _you _listen," she snapped. "You might be getting your kicks talking to the social outcast, but I am not going to stand here and hear this. None of it's true, so why don't you stop? Is this an extra credit assignment or something?"

"_Why won't you believe me_?" See-More stood up, hands trembling at his sides. "I don't have any ulterior motives. I really think you're awesome and I like you! I want to be friends with you because of that. I'm not here to bully you, and I'm not saying all this as a joke! I just want to be your friend! Why won't you believe me?"

"Because no one's ever wanted to be my friend before!"

"Why is it so hard to trust me? I thought…" his voice turned pleading, "I thought I was the nicest guy around?"

"What else am I supposed to believe, See-More?" she said tiredly, looking away. "What else am I supposed to think? Just _wanting_ to be my friend isn't good enough. There's always a reason, a...a motive. There always _has_ to be. Otherwise, it's going to be like something out of a superhero's book. All goody-goody like and…nice. No one befriends each other just for the hell of it. No one does…it doesn't work that way!"

"Looks like we both ended up in places that don't suit us," he murmured.

Her head snapped towards him. "You?" she said sharply.

See-More nodded slowly. 

She tensed until she could only croak, "Then why, gods, _why_ are you here then?"

"'I was involved in a secret government experiment where I was about to be terminated by the scientists who feared me,'" he intoned. "What about you?

Jinx looked at him blankly before her face eased up; she realized what he was trying to do. Her expression slowly turned wry. "Your usual boring fare, which also involves some nefarious government plot or another."

"Headmaster Blood sure likes his government origins."

"He does, doesn't he?" she half-laughed, but it was weak; she still was looking glum. "Really, it's all too cliché."

"And just because I perform well in school doesn't mean I really believe in that stuff," See-More added. He noted her surprised look. "You were thinking it, weren't you?"

"I admit you do make a convincing villain…if only you weren't so nicely _silly _all the time."

He grinned. "You make more of a convincing villain than I do."

"And why's that?"

A frown tugged at his lips now; Jinx's suddenly blank expression was making him uneasy...

"Why do I make a more convincing villain than any of you?" she said again.

"I…I," he stumbled over his words, "I d-dunno. Maybe it's because you always keep getting back up. You like to snap a lot and they don't understand a lot of your insults…I—I think even the professors get tired of you, you…you know?"

"Do I ever," she said.

"But that's not why I think you would…y'know."

"Oh? Enlighten me because I'm _dying_ to hear this."

See-More drew in a quick breath. "It's because I think you're not willing to settle down with what people _think_ villains are. I think you're going to go beyond that, almost like a…like a trend setter! You won't put up with anybody's c-crap, anybody who's in your way, and if they are…wouldn't you bulldoze right over them?"

When she didn't respond, he tentatively asked, "Jinx? Am I…am I right?"

"You're right," Jinx said suddenly. "You do want to become my friend for the sake of it."

"W-what? What d'you mean?"

"No one," she murmured, "_no one_ would have been able to figure all that out unless they really bothered to get to know me. Who—?" She sucked in a sharp breath. "Who could have _told _you all that?"

"No one," he said firmly. "I...I figured it all out on my own."

"But why? Why would you go so far? We've never even talked before so…" Jinx stilled. "You've been watching me. That's the only way. I don't associate with anyone here except Gizmo, but he would never have told anyone about something like that."

He squirmed, unable to keep the guilty blush off his face.

"Wow…" Looking startled, she exclaimed, "Just how long have you been holding back on befriending me?"

"Too long," he replied.

"Right," she nodded tersely. "I can see that. You're…you're something else, aren't you?"

He didn't know how to respond to that.

"Okay. Okay. I git this. So you want to be my friend. Okay. Sounds…good."

"Really?" he blurted out.

She smiled, albeit uneasily. "Yeah. About that…is getting my friendship the only thing you want from me?"

"The only thing," See-More assured her.

"Right…" She bit her lower lip, nibbling on it. See-More tried not to stare; he'd never seen her so shy. "Right."

Shaking his head slowly, he smiled widely. "You don't know what to say!"

"What am I supposed to say at a time like this? Thank you? Good luck?" Jinx scowled at that. "Looks like you'll be needing a lot of it if you're going to be hanging out with me. You…_are_ going to be hanging out with me, even in public…right?"

"I'm not ashamed to be your friend, Jinx. Why…why don't we g-go out tomorrow. Whaddya say?"

_It's not a date. It's not a date. It's not a date—_

"Fine. A date then." He almost choked at her casualness. "I need new clothes anyway."

Something occurred to him. "Am I paying?" he asked nervously. He heard horror stories about clothes shopping sprees, after all, and villainesses-in-training were no different.

Jinx grinned, plopping down on her bed. "Why don't you? To celebrate our goody-goodyness. Blue is so _not _my color."

"Then why do you wear it?" he asked curiously.

"Something about blue being a good beginner's color in the handbook."

"It says that, really? But why blue?"

"Beats me. Don't ask me how the minds of villains work. Blue just _works_ somehow, I guess." She paused. "Hey, listen…you're not afraid of me, are you?"

"Nope," he said cheerfully.

"Not even my powers?"

He shrugged. "I've seen scarier."

Jinx cracked a smile at that.

"I mean," he added, chuckling, "didya see XL Terrestrial?"

"Ooh. That's not very nice, See-More. I was thinking more along the lines of Mammoth." Her grin was mischievous. "Gotta love those genetic enhancements of his."

"I've only got a head full of screws. What about you?"

"Magic," she said brightly. "Malicious, nefarious hexes, but magic nonetheless."

"I ask 'cause I haven't seen it myself. We're a couple of freaks among freaks, aren't we?"

"You know, I think I'm starting to like you."

He remembered that day. He remembered it so clearly he could play it back in his sleep. 

He remembered how much she changed after that. How much stronger she held herself, how much more quickly she was getting better at fighting…

How she no longer needed him as much.

_But Jinx needs me now_. See-More closed a stricken eye, fists held at his sides. _She needs us__ right now_.

And damned if he wasn't going to deliver.

"Gizmo," he said finally. "I'm going in."

_**----**_

They weren't so bad once. They had lots of fun and stuff. Kinda like the Academy days, but cooler 'cause they were a team. Official. When Jump City was being robbed, they knew to scream and point fingers at _them_, honest to god villains! It was great. It was fun.

They were friends. And they could do whatever they wanted.

Jinx wasn't like that.

Why was she their leader? No one really questioned it, but Gizmo liked to snicker when she tried ordering them around, the only _girl_ of the group.

Maybe it was because she was so bossy or something that she was able to force them to do a lot of things.

Cooking. Cleaning. She even kept them on a budget—"Who else is going to keep the damn city off our doorstep!"—which was silly because they ended up stealing twice the amount they bought. Billy even got himself punched once when he sniggered out a comment about how womanly she acted around the house.

In a way, See-More guessed, it was frighteningly true.

Jinx was…a girl in every possible way. And no one dared to get in between her and her chocolates. Nor did they ever let a peep of a complaint whenever she was in the same room as them, out of fear that she'd bust up their gaming system again. The last time it happened was when the unfortunate Mammoth had to endure her screeching protests when he wouldn't let up on the T.V..

If memory served correctly, Mammoth wanted in on the Hot Pot Roast special playing at noon sharp while Jinx was still in the middle of drooling over a stupid video of some hotshot celebrity in Gotham. Needless to say, on top of trying to get in between the girl and her crush, Mammoth had rumbled a resounding negative in in his usual manner and simply changed the channel to the Good Eats network.

They all shuddered that night. It was not the first time Mammoth had made such a terrible error. 

Sometimes, when Mammoth was being especially dumb, he offered an alternative program to the news special on the Guy-Jinx-Liked, an alternative which often involved food.

It was always a mistake.

"_Change the damn channel!_ I want him back—_I want him back_! No, I don't want to watch some stupid pie program, Mammoth!"

"But…But I thought there's gonna be some chocolate—"

"Chocolate that I can't eat or _afford_, you moron!" Jinx was usually shrieking at this point, driven so desperate in seeing the seconds tick by when she could not stare at her beloved Wayne. "Now give the remote here or I will _make_ you give it up!"

It was when her eyes would start to glow that everyone got worried.

And the one time Mammoth hadn't followed her orders, Gizmo's handmade GameStation 2 baby was destroyed. Brutally.

Everyone learned to meekly obey Jinx when it came to the T.V. after that.

Luckily for them, though, a Busy Jinx was a Happy Jinx. Sort of. Gizmo kinda sucked at distracting her, though. All they did was argue.

But it worked! After they learned to dance around her moods, Billy Numerous could finally shut up to play against himself on some game or another, and he and Kyd were able to mess the sofa up without Jinx screeching over their shoulders.

Mammoth liked to explore. So he did. He got lost, too. He most often liked getting lost in the fridge—that was his excuse every time.

Gizmo hated the common room. Said it wasn't good enough to play in, which was why it was so rare to see him outside his labs, unless he was kicking butt at the local arcade.

No one knew what Jinx did during these hours. Nobody really cared.

Jinx was always different. And not just because she was a girl.

She always wanted to become _better _than anyone else. At Darkboy Prep, at H.I.V.E., and even after they became a team she wanted the _best_ of everything. Whenever they tried to avoid the Titans, she dragged them with anyway right into the foray. When they encountered other graduates, it was all they could do to keep her from boasting of their accomplishments which were...actually not that many.

But nobody didn't really care, or mind, if Jinx's assertiveness was what got them, well…the _best_. Their egos didn't hurt at the thought that _Jinx_ was acting more villanish than the rest of them because they didn't notice that their success was mostly due to her work.

Hive Five was lazy. They liked to eat, play games, have fun, and step on the dainty toes of authorities everywhere. At one point, they realized they liked this kind of life, they liked having the tower to go back home to. They _liked_ being comfortable and being children.

Headmaster Blood was crazy to talk of murder and global domination. Yeah, sounded nice and all, but who wanted that? It was cool just being villains and getting whatever they wanted—who wanted to _travel_? World domination? Not when the next hit-run special was available at the local electronics store!

And frankly, if the Titans had a bone to pick with them they were going to give as good as they got. And then go home.

But not Jinx. She spent _hours_ practicing how to talk in the mirror, how to act around certain people, and what to say when replying to this and that. She practiced her magic, strengthened her power, and kept yelling at them to get off their lazy butts and help her bully the construction crew into working on their tower.

When the tower was being built, it was Jinx who hexed the manager when he dared to try and build their home in the likeness of the _dreadful_ Teen Titans' Tower.

"But they had a _cool_ common room, nothing like something that slud-cruching _metal tin can_ could build! I don't believe it—I bet that stinkin' rusty bucket hadn't even built the place! Stupid, crusty, pit-snifflin' robot..."

"Fine," she snapped, exasperated. "Then we'll _get_ their damn common room!"

Never mind that Jinx had to work extra hard at cajoling free technology out of stingy, stuffy old men to get the job done, a job that would have been easy had Gizmo simply contributed his techno whiz. 

They were all selfish in a way. She knew that. Them, not so much, but if she didn't care, why should they?

Jinx always looked to the top for answers.

"What would _Brother Blood_ do?" she'd needle. She thought it a great honor to be able to refer to their late headmaster by name. A permission that was not only explicitly given to her, but also encouraged. 

When she became number one amongst the top fighters in school, no one was really surprised when the Headmaster preferred to dote on his star student rather than follow the gossip and slanthering among his students. Jinx still wasn't very much liked then, and Headmaster Blood placed very little worth on rumors except to applaud to the viciousness of some of them. He did not appreciate sly suggestions about inappropriate relations with his female students, though.

The originator was quickly punished. That wannabe-villain was never seen again.

Brother Blood never indulged his students. But when it came to Jinx, there was a particularly bright glint in his eyes…

She was always so smart. Never on Gizmo's level, of course, but his were street smarts, and hers…

Jinx had a willingness to learn. A dangerous thing for someone with a lot of ambition, but not necessarily a bad thing. She got wise to her moronic classmates and started to snap back. It usually involved a bunch of hexes before they shut up. She slowly gained their respect, if their scorn. At leased she wasn't scum anymore. She would've hated that. Unfortunately, Jinx couldn't quite differentiate when a classmate was insulting her or complimenting her. She was not a people's person.

She was also never a particularly good student. Not until Brother Blood become the headmaster did she finally begin to shape up. Beforehand, their old hag of a headmistress wouldn't accept that Jinx was truly deserving of her top spot. The Headmistress had been fond of etiquette, manners, and found Jinx crude, callous, and coarse. It took forcibly teaming up with the cranky Gizmo and the reluctant Mammoth to make her see Jinx's worth.

But Headmaster Blood was different. He really _saw_ her.

Jinx had not seen him since Cyborg betrayed them and destroyed H.I.V.E. Academy headquarters. After everyone retreated to the lesser, temporary hideout, Headmaster Blood resumed his teachings, but he moved jerkily and often snapped at students who couldn't answer his questions immediately. Everyone tiptoed very carefully around him after that—clearly, the man was still smarting about the Cyborg episode. 

Not even she dared to cross him. He no longer acted indulgent with her. He acted impatient, irate, and she was slowly beginning to feel that she was a burden to him. She couldn't understand why he was so _agitated_, not after three months.

H.I.V.E. was still in session, wasn't it? So why did the Headmaster look so_ angry_ all the time?

"You better get out while you can," Bumblebee muttered to her when they passed each other in the hall once.

Jinx stopped, sneering over her shoulder. "And is the top student feeling threatened by a certain someone? I can hardly say I'm _stung_ by such a threat."

Bumblebee stopped walking, too, but she didn't bother turning around. Shoulders haunched, she only said, "Like I said, Jinx, get out _while you can_. You're not cut out for Brother Blood." She shrugged, adding lightly, "If you don't want to follow my advice, don't say I didn't warn you. You don't know what he's like."

"And you do?" Jinx hotly challenged.

The winged villainess didn't rise to the bait; she half-turned until her profile was revealed. "When you act like the teacher's pet you are, don't be surprised when you've been used," she answered in a low voice.

Taken aback at the warning, Jinx didn't bother stopping Bumblebee when she walked away. Instead, she puzzled over why her dark-skinned rival had been acting strange. Bumblebee was so predicable, always having a ready jeer for her when they crossed paths. The girl loved to hog the spotlight—Jinx knew she did, especially when Headmaster Blood loved to dote on her publicly—

Jinx stilled, eyes widening. She knew why that conversation was so strange…! Bumblebee didn't address Blood as the headmaster! What could that have meant? Did that mean Bumblebee…?

But there was no time. Headmaster Blood was ordering the reconstruction of his new school. He'd taken to punishing those that dallied and was wasting precious space in the enrollment list.

Jinx hated the new academy. It was cold and sterile. Being underwater, every step she took echoed hollowly around metal corridors and she felt very small and claustrophobic. Every time she glanced out the window, she remembered there wasn't an _outside_ anymore to look at. She was sick of seeing fish the first day there. The next several days were unbearable because she couldn't forget that water was closing in all around her just outside of steel walls.

She didn't follow Bumblebee's advice. She stayed stubbornly enrolled, sure she wouldn't regret staying. Three weeks in, and Jinx regretted her pride sorely.

_Bumblebee_ stayed. _Bumblebee_ could handle Headmaster Blood's brutal new curriculum. So why couldn't she?

Her own lack of advancement and increasing struggles to keep up with her classmates soon allowed Blood's interest in her to wane. He had become distant, cold, and he focused on nothing but his private goals and forced them all to slave away for his sake. But _Bumblebee_, Jinx noted bitterly, could easily be found in the headmaster's office, chatting up their professor. 

Jinx was frustrated with herself during those days, infuriated that she was slipping further and further down the hierarchy. Familiar feelings of scorn and disdain from her peers nearly forced her to buckle under the pressure, but Jinx didn't dare. She had something to prove. She was strong. She was great. She was…was…

She was alone. There was no Mammoth or Gizmo to pass the time—they took off a long time ago, back when H.I.V.E. Academy was first blitzed. She didn't even have See-More to talk with, and she felt betrayed in such a way that her so-called friends left her behind to go off and have fun on their own.

But that was just the thing, wasn't it? Jinx wasn't even having fun at all. Actually—she didn't know what she was doing there anymore.

Not too long ago, she would've hexed anyone who dared to imply she was stupid for being so ambitious, that she was biting off more than she could chew. To tell her that it wasn't worth pursuing a higher education and attaining a strength that only Brother Blood could give her was blasphemy.

And then, when the Teen Titans infiltrated the second Academy and it was destroyed, Jinx wasn't so sure anymore.

She'd been out out in the surface on an assignment. Headmaster Blood had sent her away to _Steel City_ of all places, only the most miserable and cold and desolate city on that side of the country. All she'd been told was to scout the city and bring the data back to him. Of course, if she was freezing her butt off up north to do grunt work she wasn't privy to his plans, so it shouldn't have been a surprise when she found out the hard way. Instead, she'd been completely thrown when saw that a freaking huge tsunami was about to wash up the whole of Jump City on live T.V..

Mouth slacked and expression deadpan, she absently wondered which co-worker of hers managed to pull off something like that this time around. But then, before she could enjoy the view, the whole operation blew over before T-Tower could be properly destroyed.

Imagine her surprise when it was promptly reported that the Titans had saved the day yet again. Jump City was cheery. Jump City was pleased. Jump City was saved from Brother Blood's notoriety.

Jinx was not happy at all: "Where am I going…TO STAY!"

_**----**__**Some days later...**_

"…So what made you change your mind?" A cock of the hips, and Bumblebee eyed her with skeptical, arched brows.

"Oh, I don't know," her rival said airily. "Maybe it was the cold. Maybe it was the décor—I did _not_want to stare at some beehive anymore. It brings up bad memories, see, and totally clashes with my outfit."

"Of course," the Titans East member humored her. "But you know I'm going to have to ask you to leave our city, right? Before I come after you?"

"I should have known you were another bug, soaking up Headmaster Blood's teachings. _Stone_ had done the same."

Leaving back against the wall, Bumblebee looked up at the screen, smiling. "Enough with the puns, girl, villain talk doesn't suit you. Thanks and all for the tip, but we can handle it from here." Her expression faltered. "I told you, didn't I? I told you you didn't know what he was really like."

Jinx stared down at her, digitalized face frowning. "Don't judge me when you don't know me, _Titan_. I'm going back home and that's that."

"Back to Blood?"

"Back to _Jump_." She gave a flippant hand gesture. "I'm missing the sun, as it were."

"Good choice there, Pinky. Just take one look at your skin and you know you're in some serious need of tanning."

Jinx huffed and crossed her arms. "_Thanks_, but I'm not going to follow your advice."

The wall sized screen blipped off and Bumblebee shook her head, grinning. Out loud, she laughed, "Jinx, you already did, you good guy, you. You can't fool me!"

"Who are you talking to?" Curious, Aqualad poked his head in the room. Noticing her unusually good mood, he relaxed; she'd been really stressed out lately. "Did you talk to Cyborg? Is he coming to help us with the tower?"

"Aqualad, honey," Bumblebee drawled, flipping open her T-Communicator, "I'm already on it. And I know where _Brother Blood_ is."

"You do?" he exclaimed, eyes widening. "That's great! How did you find him? We looked for him all over the place. Speedy's getting on my nerves, truthfully."

"Oh, boy, what did he do now? Take care of this." Tossing him the device, she walked away. "That boy gets on my nerves sometimes. I'll handle him and you just focus on convincing Sparky to come."

"He'll come," Aqualad said confidently, but then paused. "You never did tell me. How did you find out where Blood is?"

Bumblebee stopped and flung a smirk over her shoulder. "A little bug told me."

* * *

Here, Jinx did end up giving Blood the Steel City report that he'd wanted before she tipped Bumblebee off (future heroine roots coming through...); it was her way of appeasing both her indignity and loyalty. I don't know Jinx's canon past other than she's Indian. Here the reason she wasn't liked by her classmates was because in her first year at H.I.V.E., her powers were uncontrollable, which alienated her from her peers. In an effort to act like nothing got to her, Jinx came off as arrogant and drove off any potential friends except See-More because he's a sweetie. 

Bumblebee is cool. I finally got around to watching Wavelength and I incorporated all of Brother Blood's stuff in here. Beast Boy, in Titans East: Part 1, said that Bumblebee and Aqualad tracked Brother Blood to Steel City, but here that's obviously not the case . Bumblebee pretty much had realized that Jinx wasn't cut out to be a villain from the getgo. After she infiltrated H.I.V.E. and climbed the school's hierarchy, Jinx had already found her a threat because she'd already been at the top of her class. When Bumblebee surpassed her, Jinx pulled a Maito Gai move and declared herself the spy's rival. Sometime during that rivalry, Bumblebee figured what Jinx was about and warned her to back off the Brother Blood idolatry before it was too late, which foreshadows the final episodes of the Brother Blood vs. Titans East arc.

My other TT fic, Gimmick's Vice, features the same disease Jinx caught here. Here, I don't want to reveal too much of the disease too quickly because the whole plot revolves around it, but Gimmick's Vice takes place twenty years in the future where the matter is irrelevant. In that universe someone else is infected, but it's too late to cure them. 


	6. dstv vi

I missed this fic's clear clarity and plot. It's so straightforward compared to the convoluted mess that's Gimmick's Vice. Coming back here is refreshing.

This chapter's a rarity: Everybody gets the spotlight.

* * *

"Her immune system's not recognizing some of these cells," he declared. Turning to switch the screen to a live feed of her sluggish bloodstream, he said, "Look at this! Every other minute or so a cell is bursting open as if it's infected with a virus, but the things that come out…man, I don't like the looks of this."

Kid Flash gritted his teeth. "I know what you're talking about, Cyborg. You don't have to dumb down the words for me. I took biology, too, you know."

"Sorry," Cyborg said. "None of my friends ever get my technical speeches; I have to reword everything in my head. I guess it's habit by now."

Anger deflated, Kid Flash blew out a breath. He waved his hand vigorously. "No, no, it's fine. I've just been under a lot of stress lately. I'm sorry if my attitude gets to you."

"It's understandable. You've had to deal with the Hive. _I've_ had to deal with the Hive. So we're all good."

"You guys never get a break, do you?" he said, sympathetic. "Raven called me in for a week once and Jump City got _old_ after the first day. It was the same time I dealt with Madame Rouge for the first time, too."

"Oh, yeah. A few months ago, right?" Cyborg snorted and rolled his eyes. "The Teen Titans are supposedly on a break, but what we're really doing back in town is waiting for the Brotherhood of Evil to act up again."

"You're not going after them?"

"Madame Rouge got to you here, didn't she? Who's to say she won't do it again? I just can't believe she would target Jump City directly. I didn't think she had the nerve…"

Kid Flash hid a frown; he'd never actually told the others how the villainess had come to Jump in the first place. Thoughts easing and face creasing with his smile, he said, "Yeah, I can't believe she found me, too. Not the fastest boy alive!"

"So how'd you end up with Jinx? I'd like to know why I'm secretly monitoring someone who's my enemy."

His expression flickered. "Jinx isn't your enemy, Cy," Kid Flash said.

"Then why don't you tell me what's going on?"

"What did Raven tell you?"

Cyborg groaned. "She wouldn't tell me a thing. Claimed I would hear it directly from you."

"…Raven," Kid Flash sighed. "Okay, so how should I put it?"

"Start at the beginning." Cyborg shrugged and leaned up against the wall. "I've got all day."

"What do you know so far?"

"You're stalling, man, but I'll humor you. I think that, and I can't believe I'm saying this, but I think that the Hive Five are scary and that they're looking for medicine. What I don't understand is why Jinx is like this," Cyborg pointed at a screen, "and why I'm always out of the loop! I didn't even know you guys met until you came charging in here with her data." He looked uncomfortable at the thought, too.

"Hey, no biggie. We happened to cross paths while I was guarding your city, that's all." Of course there was more to the story, but he wasn't telling. "Anyway, sorry if the data isn't enough. I couldn't think of anybody else to go to. You're the first guy I thought of to go to for help."

"Not Robin?" Cyborg said. He sounded surprised.

Kid Flash's smile faltered. Looking a little uneasy, he said, "Sometimes, I don't even know where I stand with the guy."

Puzzled, the Titan said, "But you're a superhero, aren't you? Besides, Robin's not that bad. He was freaking out when you were captured. He was about to send us off on full alert to go after you and the Hive."

Kid Flash blinked. "Robin did? Really?"

Nodding, he said, "You're an honorary Titan, man. Robin looks out for all of us. He doesn't look it, but Robin's protective over his friends." He grinned. "Anal retentive and obsessive villain compulsions aside, he's a good kid."

Something shuttered in Kid Flash's eyes just then, but then his face crinkled with his smile. "I see. I haven't actually talked to him before."

"What! What about that...you know, when you were calling for our help?"

"That was just an S.O.S. thing—short, sweet, and simple. Not much time to sit down, chat, and have tea and biscuits, yeah?"

Cyborg gaped. "But...I can't believe it! Before then, you've never talked even to the guy? Seriously?"

"Er, first time for everything, I...guess?" Kid Flash scratched his head, his grin sheepish. "When I was inducted and everything, it was actually Raven who gave me the communicator."

Looking thrown and bewildered, Cyborg managed out, "So where was Robin in all of this? That guy loves giving out those things like...like lollipops, man!"

Kid Flash shrugged. "I don't know what the big deal is. I've met the guy once or twice before. I like all of you, but Raven's the one I really talk to around here." Kid Flash paused. "You, too, big guy. I'm not forgetting ya."

"You and Raven, huh?" Cyborg said, brows high and voice speculative.

"Hey, hey, don't be getting any ideas. We're just friends."

"But still..." He nudged Kid Flash. "You _and Raven_. Raven doesn't talk much, and she doesn't like getting out of the Tower—"

"Of course she does," Kid Flash snapped. "Raven's not some creepy goth girl hanging in her room all day. And she so does talk!"

"Whoa, whoa!" Holding out his hands, Cyborg looked contrite. "Sorry. I was just teasing ya. I know Raven talks, but only when you catch her at a good moment. Usually, she likes to shoot BB down, which is kinda funny but kinda sad at the same time. And—"

"S'ok. I get it." Kid Flash ran a hand through his hair, letting out a breath. "I'm not...at my hottest right now. With Jinx and all. I didn't mean to yell at you, Cyborg."

"Are you guys friends?"

"What? Oh, yeah, I'm friends with Raven."

"I didn't mean Raven."

"Oh. Uh..." He opened his mouth, then snapped it shut, working his jaw. "You mean Jinx, right? Okay, I admit it, I like her. I'm totally cool with her. Crazy, even."

"You actually fessed up!"

He tensed. "...And what are you going to do about it right now?"

"Nothing!" Cyborg slapped his back, chortling. "D'you know how long I was trying to get you to slip up? No wonder you brought in that girl's data! You like her." His voice ended on a teasing note.

Kid Flash blinked, then scowled. "You _and _Raven," he said.

Still looking amused, Cyborg's grin was wide. "I'm not going to rat you out to Robin or any—oh, geez, _that's_ why you're so gungho about not meeting him! Robin's not going to turn you out, Kid. You can't avoid the guy forever."

Waving him off, Kid Flash said, "Nah. I kinda want to stay away until, y'know...this whole thing's blown over." He'd even whistled and gave a sweeping hand motion for effect.

But Cyborg turned grim. "I don't think that's gonna fly. You're going to need all the help you can get. _Jinx_ needs all the help she can get. You can't do this by yourself!"

"Nobody's my boss." He shook his head. "Sorry, but I'm not interested in becoming a full fledged Titan _whatever_. I work alone these days, Cyborg."

"But can you really handle this all on your own?"

--

Beast Boy had not been moved for nearly three days. The Tower was deathly silent without him, and no one wanted to fill in his shoes as the resident comic relief. That role was reserved for Beast Boy alone, but not only that...

She missed him. Azar knew only why, but she did. She'd taken up the habit of watching over him, book in hand and tea in the other. Tea that was jam packed full of herbs, no less, with restorative properties that helped keep her awake. They also had vitamins and and nutrients to sustain her for her self-imposed long watch hours. A temporary measure, doing more harm than good; she ignored it.

It was amazing what she could do when she put her mind to it. After all, she'd basterized tea.

But the effects of the past several days were finally taking a toll on her. She was becoming irritable, slow in manner and speech and thought, and she felt exhausted. All the time, she felt tired. Nothing more was wanted than a deep, consuming sleep within her bed. Nothing at all would do but to refresh herself, naturally, through unnatural means. Like a comma.

Her team had no idea, and she intended to keep it that way. There was no way she would distract the others from their duties. There was no way she would let them transfer any worry onto her. Her vigil over Beast Boy was quiet and firm, but she wouldn't let it get in their way. Her concern was a private one, although mutually shared by the others, and if the others knew exactly how morose she felt...how inconsolable and imbalanced her state of mind was...

She suspected Nevermore was a mess. As her physical body suffered so, too, did the manifestations suffer in her head.

Raven sipped some tea, then set it aside; a classic was set before her, waiting to be devoured. But there was no devouring to be had tonight. What used to be lightweight reading to her, something to be finished in the span of mere hours, now seemed a tedious chore. Reading should never be a tedious chore.

A thought occurred to her: The book was less of a book and more of a tome—really old, dusty, and ancient. The kind of book that Beast Boy would've laughed at and gone "Duuude, _that's_ light reading?!" or some other idiotic, inane comment.

After this line of thinking passed, Raven had to pause for a moment in order to fully absorb what had just happened.

She refused to acknowledge why she felt the need to replicate something Beast Boy would have said. In the privacy of her own head, no less—the thought was too disturbing in of itself.

She didn't need reminders that he was gone. Her own half-assed inner warbling did the job for her.

Pathetic—

Raven closed the tome with a snap. Her eyes narrowed in strained contemplation, lines present between the furrow of her brows.

Abruptly, she stood.

Nearby, Beast Boy slept on in ignorant slumber; he did not stir. But every minute motion Raven made spoke of her alarm. Every change in her expression said much of the suddenly tense situation. Everything before now—her exhaustion, her anxiety, her thoughts—were forgotten in the face of the _here_ and _now_.

Even her breathing was controlled, unconsciously slowing to the thud of the heartbeat in her ear.

The lights flickered.

Her every step was measured and taunt in her stride towards Beast Boy. Though she didn't move as a hurried person should, there was a primal sort of wariness about her. Like an animal about to be cornered. Hands sparking with her innate, black power, shadows lurched and danced underneath Beast Boy's bed, long tangles of them teasing the barrier between the light and dark of the room, testing it for weakness.

The bulbs overhead hissed, warning her to calm down. Raven glared into that shadowed, inky darkness, and her eyes glowed white with her power.

The sudden activity beneath the bed stilled, but its passive movement seemed to watch her with eyes. Condemning eyes.

But Raven had no choice. She had to know what was going on. Even at the risk of Beast Boy's safety...

Her breath broke with her pant; the other presence approaching the warded room was powerful. _Familiar_.

Frightening.

Tweaking some buttons on a monitor, she gave a furtive, sharp glance at the door, and then sank deeply into the floor. In the hallway situated below, Raven leaned against the wall and shut glowing eyes closed, the exertion of her task already tiring her. But the physical aspects of this application of her powers had nothing on her mental state.

Chaos. She knew what she was about to do was taboo, an action that would scar her own rules, hurt her own mentality. She was about to commit a taboo twice fold. First by leaving Beast Boy, open and vulnerable, to certain danger. Second...

Her gasp was a shuddered one: _She had no choice_.

Up above, a figure slipped through the doorway. The hospital room gave a flutter, and the figure paused at the sensation, but not knowing why.

Subtle. But subtle enough to soon escape his notice. The figure turned towards the lone sickbed.

It was Kyd Wykkyd, face inscrutable and shadowed; Beast Boy didn't even move in the presence of his attacker. Someone came in after the villain, considerably louder, with clanking, unsure footsteps.

Kyd Wykkyd stood there, unflinching and unrepentant, as he eyed the boy he'd knocked out.

Cyborg stepped up behind him, sounding tired and old. "Are the effects reversible?"

The villain didn't react. Cyborg sighed.

"Don't get me wrong, Kyd Wykkyd," he said. "I'm angry at you. Furious, even, but...his vitals are strong, his condition's stable, and I can't find anything wrong with him. He's...he's just sleeping. But he won't wake up. He's just—there. There is something else that's bothering me, though."

It was Cyborg's expression that convinced him of his suspicions, all firm and conviction and relief, confusion, and _pride_...but Kyd Wykkyd balked, shaking his head.

Something softened then in the Titan's face, something telling. His voice was a mere murmur. "You weren't trying to kill Beast Boy. You saved him from being kill by the other three." Cyborg laid a hand down on his shoulder.

Kyd Wykkyd tensed, but Cyborg's voice was low, grateful. "Thanks."

Startled, the villain jerked away, cape swirling around. His eyes were wide, disbelieving. Even confused.

Sudden, stark nostalgia hit Cyborg just then; it'd been a long time since he'd seen such a face from the normally aloof boy. "I've missed you...Kyd. I've missed _all_ of you guys."

Mouth thinning, Kyd Wykkyd's face was full of regret.

"Yes, you are a good person." Cyborg smiled a little. "Don't let anyone tell you differently. You hear?"

But something shadowed the boy's countenance. Furrowed brows and tightening eyes, Kyd Wykkyd aged almost visibly before him.

Cyborg, alarmed, took a step forward. His smile was wavering. "What is it? What's wrong?"

Kyd Wykkyd simply gazed at him.

"You...you can bring him back, right? I mean, Kyd, BB's not gonna...?"

The villain frowned, and then shook his head.

Cyborg's shoulders sagged with his relief. "Thank god..."

As they continued to talk, Raven, in the next floor below them, snapped glowing eyes open. They dimmed until her normal sight returned—not the vision seen through the brilliance of magic but the vision that enabled her to look, wearily, upon the floor.

At that moment, the shadows beneath Beast Boy's bed halted like shut off animatronics. The room's other occupants never noticed, were never allowed to notice. Just how she intended it to be. Her actions would remain secret now, never to be revealed. Never to be known.

All was well. But Raven's eyes closed from an inner, innate pain.

She had committed the second taboo. She had broken her own rules. The first was to never abandon her friends when they were in need of her—to always be there for the friends who had never turned her away at her most weakest, darkest. And the second...

The second taboo...acting against her friends.

She'd acted on her negative perceptions and carried out it, damning the unsaid taboos she lived by. She failed as a teammate, a trusted and loyal companion. She failed as a friend.

Failure, a high price, and for what? In exchange for knowing that Beast Boy was not sick enough to die? Enough to know that the one who attacked him would not heal him?

Enough to know that Cyborg was _friends_ with the monster?

Raven sagged against that dark hallway wall, shivering, but she did not feel tired or cold. Rather, a blanket of detachment was settling over her mind, numbing her, shielding her.

Her heart, in contrast to before, was pounding away in her chest, loud and hard enough for the tightness that was present there to hurt.

_It_ _hurt_. Something in her, wholly in disbelief and incredulous of present circumstances, was hurting. Gnawing at her mind, heart, beliefs. Something ugly, but altogether fragile. And growing. Like poison, spreading throughout her body, growing and growing and growing—

Something...bad. All consuming.

I am in control, she thought. Nevermore is not my Creator, it is my Creation.

Raven felt the amount of hate that was swelling up inside of her. And it frightened her, how familiar a path her hateful thoughts were going.

She turned blindly towards the light at the end of the hall, that dim and flickering light bulb that swung, silently, with her rising horror.

Shadows crept in the corner, calling for her. The lights over her head were long burnt out, not of her own doing, and the only bright thing was faraway from her. At the end of the hall.

She reached for it with an outstretched arm.

A misstep, a stumble, and Raven staggered against the wall for support. She slid down its surface, and gasped.

Unsettled dust floated about her, making her cough.

She squinted towards that distant light, and then squeezed blurry eyes shut.

It was too far from her.

_...what do you mean BB can't be healed...?_

--

Negative space was what Kyd worked with. It was what let him walk through walls, create portals, and steal stuff from out of boxed museum exhibits. Something could not be made to occupy a space that was already filled with mass.

Cyborg got about that much. But he was a tech guy; he didn't do arcane magic.

Which was why he couldn't quite understand how seriously ill his best friend was until that moment. He hadn't understood Kyd's grim countenance, and he hadn't understood the telling look in the villain's opaque eyes.

He tone was fairly incredulous when he'd said, "What do you mean BB can't be healed? You did that to him, so you can change him back."

The way Kyd stared at him, weighed him down with silent words—there was a disquieting feeling bubbling up inside of Cyborg. And he didn't like it.

Nervousness, Cyborg eventually realized. He was nervous during his talk with Kyd Wykkyd.

And the dread. It wasn't something he was going to forget anytime soon, either.

"Kyd, please." Cyborg's mouth was dry and his tongue felt fat, useless. "Just...just tell me you can heal him. Tell me that Beast Boy'll be all right."

The H.I.V.E. agent pressed his lips together and said not a word.

Suddenly it was all so clear to him. Cyborg knew, with stark clarity, the reason Kyd Wykkyd would never respond.

The boy refused to lie. He could repent all he want, appear as regretful as he did, but ultimately he would not lie. He never prettied up his words and never gave any false hope. Shoulders set, jaw tight, Kyd Wykkyd did not confirm the lie that Cyborg so wanted to hear.

That BB would be all right. That everything was going to be okay.

It was a lie.

Cyborg didn't know what he wanted. Did he want the comforting lie or the bare naked truth?

But his friend was not giving him a choice at all. The Titan wanted to be angry over it, hate what Kyd did, hate _him_, but they both knew Cyborg wasn't going to do such a thing. Kyd had already done so much for the Teen Titans. He'd saved BB's life! How was he supposed to tell his teammates how much Kyd risked for them? He couldn't.

And yet Kyd didn't begrudge him for it. He accepted, calmly, the Teen Titans' anger. Or maybe it was apathy. After all, Kyd hadn't stopped the others from killing Beast Boy just to be a do-gooder—he'd only done it for Cyborg. It wasn't right, but Cyborg didn't know what to do about it. Maybe it was a perk of being friends with a villain; the villain dished out favors to you on the side.

It would be a perverse action to accept the act for what it really was—a gift. It was sick to put down Beast Boy's life as only something to give-and-take.

Kyd Wykkyd was still a villain. Still uncompromising and still playing at evil. He still would be the Teen Titans' enemy, and Cyborg would still have to pretend to be antagonistic towards one of his closest friends and vice versa.

Cyborg was still going to be a good guy. The chasm between he and Kyd Wykkyd, a gap that had felt nonexistent while Cyborg was undercover at the Academy, had grown so wide. Without even noticing, Kyd had become a stranger to him!

But then, weren't they always strangers to each other? Were they even friends?

Raven said that she'd seen Gizmo use a missile in that last fight. An actual military missile, which was mind blowing. If that were true, wouldn't that mean that BB really had been in danger of being killed? But why did it have to be him! What made BB so vulnerable in the eyes of Kyd Wykkyd that Cyborg's best friend was now _lying on that bed_? Who did Kyd think he was, playing at God, picking whichever Titan he deemed fit to fall under his attack...?

Beast Boy may have been saved, but being a vegetable wasn't the same as being alive. Cyborg didn't want a pasty skinned _doll_ for a friend, but BB! The guy who'd senselessly argue over stupid tofu with him, the guy who'd always jumped at the chance to play a hardcore game against him in the Titan commons...

Cyborg wanted his friend to wake up. Right now.

It wasn't happening.

"Please," he said, choking. He stumbled to Beast Boy's side and knelt there, clutching the comatose boy's hand. "Just—just leave me alone for awhile, will you?"

The hand placed on his shoulder felt heavy. Kyd Wykkyd moved away, and then disappeared. Like that. Gone.

Cyborg didn't care if he looked pathetic or girly, what, with clutching his best friend like that. He didn't care.

He didn't care.

Head bowed, shoulders haunched, Cyborg took his free hand and griped a handful of the bedsheets. His body shook with exertion, and his breaths were gasps.

--

"He's lying," he spat. "I know what he really won't say. He has suspicions, doesn't he? He won't tell me."

Kid Flash paced agitatedly across the floor. No one else in the room answered him.

He jerked to a stop, and then threw up his hands. "I mean," he said, "what are the chances that she'll die? Of course not."

Pivoting, he slammed a hand down on Jinx's bed. The prone girl ebbed with the lurch of the bed. Defeated, Kid Flash slapped a hand against his face and groaned. "What am I doing?" he said. "Stupid, stupid. Bringing her here...why the hell did I bring her here?"

He sighed. "I bet the Hive are running around like headless chickens. I really ought to stop teasing them, especially that uptight whiz kid." Falling into silence, he plopped himself next to her. Unwittingly, he brushed aside a loose bang on her face. He smiled.

Then frowned. With another sigh, he said aloud, "Since when have I been such a sap...? Roses. Honestly." He scuffed his feet against the floor. "Why am I so crazy for her? It makes no sense. Jeez, she was just supposed to be a bit of fun, that's all..."

Pensive, he stared hard at his hands before chuckling. "What an arrogant bastard I am. Convert her? The situation's so skewed, I don't know what I'm doing anymore." Kid Flash clenched one of them into a fist. "But I do know this. I'm not going to stand aside anymore. The Hive be damned, I'm not letting you go."

The glance he shot Jinx could almost be described as pity. "Looks like you're stuck with me."

--

"But please, Robin, why do you pace so?"

Indeed, Robin looked irate as he paced, but not at her. "I just can't figure it out, Star. This is one big mystery that I don't get. Where did the Hive get the firepower they did? What's their motive? What's the impetus? What's the goal they're aiming for?"

Starfire frowned slightly. "Robin," she said firmly, "please look at me when you are speaking to me."

"Star, I'm a little busy right—"

She grasped his shoulder. "Look at me. Robin, the Five of Hive can wait. Our friends need us now. Our _team_ needs us now. When we are together again, we can figure out these details together."

"Starfire..."

Loosing her grip, Starfire smiled. "Robin. You are not alone in this. This is not another instance of Slade. You are not being the Red X. You can trust us to aid you." Smiling turning sad, she shook her head. "Never again shall I doubt you for your secrecy, but we are friends, are we not? And friends support each other, yes?"

Expression apologetic, Robin said, "I'm sorry, Star. I keep getting over myself. I won't do it again."

She clasped his hands, ignoring his startlement. "You are under much stress, Robin. You have a most inappropriate tendency towards the _lone wolf_ persona. I understand and do not fault you for it."

He coughed. "Thanks, Star."

Starfire sighed. "But I fear for friend Raven. She is at times, I feel, far too independent for the tastes of mine."

Robin coughed again. "I don't know what you mean."

She pinned him with a near glare. "Friend Raven suffers the torment of guarding Beast Boy alone. She has taken the duty and does not relinquish it. Does this not worry you for our friend?"

Abashed, he realized he wasn't taking her seriously. "No," he said. "I'm worried about her, too."

Her tone eased. "Now that we have established the 'talk,' let us consider what to do for for our friend."

"But, Star," Robin hesitated, "that's just her nature. Raven wouldn't want us butting into her business. She's taking watch duty really seriously, and you know how she can get if someone tries to stop her when she's like that."

"Like what, Robin?" Starfire's eyes were suddenly steely, and Robin knew he made a mistake. "With Raven, one cannot leave her to her own devices. No matter how hard she fights against us, we must use vigor when extending our feelings towards her. We cannot leave her alone!"

"Okay." Robin drew in a breath. "Let's go see how Beast Boy's doing."

--

"Hehehe...you've gone done it, Billy."

"Right back atcha, Billy!"

"'Ey, Billy, what're you suppose, uh, the kid's gonna do with this doohickey thingy?"

Silence. The three Billys glanced at each other. And grinned.

"START WIRIN'!"

--

"...Do they even know what they're doing?"

"Watch it, one-eye. Focus on the stupid camera! Even if those scrum-buffing idiots screw it all up, my tech's got enough omph to blow the effin' Titan munchers to smithereens! It'll self-destruct!"

"Language, Gizmo."

"Aw, shut it, you gigantic dumbwuss! What do you know?"

Mammoth shrugged; he just didn't want to see Gizmo swear for real. See-More pushed passed him, his eye glowing red. "Careful, Mammoth buddy. I'm projecting something on the screen."

Gizmo slapped a hand on said projection. His snarl was prominent. "What're those scrunchin' idiots doing?! Why are they wiring up the thing by its freakin' colors? IT'S NOT PROGRAMMED TO ACCEPT THE FLIPPIN' RAINBOW—"

"Chill, there, wouldya, Gizmo?" Billy yawned, kicking up his feet on the couch. "My clones ain't the stupid twats you're making 'em out to be, kid."

"Don't call me a kid, you hillbilly wannabe!"

The red spandex-clad villain only shrugged. Contrary to the Billy clones' exuberance shown on the screen, this Billy seemed apathetic. With another wide yawn, he stuck a finger in his ear and started to twist. Gizmo made a face when bits of the wax were flicked in his direction, but otherwise he did nothing.

"Why are you over here instead directing your dumb clones over there?" the genius said, lips pressed tight against his face.

"Dinnit feel like it."

"You blithin' moronic dummy! Think of what they're doin' to my freakin' tech!"

"Gizmo!" See-More said. "They're done, man. They're done."

Gizmo gritted his teeth. "Finally!"

Billy held up his hands, smirking. "Whaddya I tell ya, whiz kid? Aren't you glad my clones weren't stupid 'nuff to trip up the trigger b'fore its time?"

"Shut it! Mammoth! Bring the controller here. One-eye, you keep track of those crum-bunching Titan reactions! I wanna see the freakin' vid in HD when it's all done and over with! And Kyd Wykkyd—where's that creeper?! Did he set up the bugs like I told him to?"

"Dunno, man." See-More flipped visions and squinted at something only he could see. "Kyd's still at the tower. Can't tell if he's done or not. Should we wait...?"

Gizmo's face fell, and then hardened. "No," he said, shaking his head. He went back to twiddling with the controller.

See-More glanced at him, single visible eye wide open.

"That guy's got some darn trick up his sleeves," Billy agreed. "He's gonna be awright. Don't you worry yer pretty lil' head 'bout it, See-More."

"But—"

Mammoth laid a heavy hand on See-More's shoulder. It nearly bowled the villain over, but he only sighed. "Okay, guys. I get it."

"So? Are we gonna do this scrud-munchin' thing or what?"

The four look at each other and nodded.

--

Raven haltingly stood. Wearily, she looked up at the ceiling above her and wondered how in the world she would confront Cyborg. She was not looking forward to the pending conversation.

Ignoring the matted dust on her cloak, the Titan trudged her way towards the stairs leading to the medic bay, not even bothering to use her powers to teleport there.

--

The silence between them was stifling. Starfire seemed perfectly fine being focused on their task—checking on Beast Boy—but did the walk there have to be so awkward?

Robin shifted uncomfortably, conflicted between the safe familiarity of being a detective and the obligations of being part of a team. He wanted Beast Boy back, of course. He cared a lot for his teammate, all of them, but he did not want to go to the medic bay.

His failure was stark in that room. He was already beating himself for having a downed member without Starfire being so persistent.

Still...

A soft smile, without his knowing, appeared on his face. Starfire was good for the team. She looked for them, placed a lot of worth in their friendship, and didn't hesitate to stand up for what she thought was right.

Robin hadn't wanted to be cooped up in his dark room, doing nothing but researching futile leads, but he didn't know what else to do to deal with this frustration. With her, though, he felt calm. Blessed calm. Rational, too. Hiding his sleep deprivation from the others was easy, having done so numerous of times, but he couldn't put up that front with Starfire.

Even with his mask on, she noted his bags, his exhaustion. But she didn't condemn him for it.

It felt so relieving to be honest with her.

--

Kyd Wykkyd narrowed his eyes as he swept through the hallways. At his belt were the devices he was supposed to plant all around the T-Tower, but he'd been delayed by Cyborg.

The Titans were clearly desperate, he could see. His do-gooder friend felt crushed at the news, but Kyd Wykkyd knew he would survive. It wasn't like the superhero called Beast Boy was going to die anyway, he dismissed.

He'd been surprised to find out where Kid Flash brought Jinx, but he shouldn't have been. It made sense. The Teen Titans were formidable foes, and their technology wasn't half-bad. Maybe even...impressive? Although he had only a few minutes to survey their medic bay, Kyd Wykkyd saw a few notable equipment that could very well be of use to Jinx. Once she was situated back at HQ, of course.

He shook his head. Jinx would be safe with Kid Flash hovering over here. It left a bitter twang at the back of his throat, but it was a true fact. That boy may be good for nothing, but at least he would protect the ill girl with his life.

All that was left to do was to plant the bugs Gizmo wanted badly in the tower. It was a stealth job only Kyd Wykkyd could pull off. Afterwards, he decided, he'd take Jinx away. Hopefully his teammates wouldn't do something stupid until then.

--

Cyborg stumbled to his feet, keeping his eyes on BB. He swore there was some movement—!

--

"Detonate it, Gizmo."

* * *

From going all out in my other fics, I've tweaked my style. It was loads of fun taking that break, but my writing's become wordier than it already was, much darker and redundant. I'm feeling ambivalent about it all.

I'm surprised at how ambiguous Kyd Wykkyd is coming off as. I love Cyborg and I didn't want his portrayal to be stupidly cliché, so I focused on his relationship with a villain instead. In the time I was away from this fic, I also grew to respect Starfire and consider RobStar as a grudging possibility (though there won't be any in here). The only thing I didn't accomplish was a friendship that was supposed to form between Kid Flash and Robin.

Kyd Wykkyd doesn't know his team's plan. On the flip side, they don't know that he's friends with Cyborg. They also don't realize that Jinx is in the T-Tower. Oops.


End file.
